Family relative identified as suspect in quadruple Oshawa shooting

A 48-year-old Winnipeg man has been identified as the suspect in a quadruple shooting that left an Oshawa father and three of his children dead.

Durham police say Mitchell Lapa of Dalhousie Drive in Winnipeg is a relative of the family and was an uninvited person to the home. Police did not specify Lapa’s relation to his victims.

A vehicle that was secured at the scene of the crime bearing Manitoba license plates is registered to Lapa, according to police.

Police were first called to a residence on Parklane Avenue, near Harmony Road north of King Street around 1:20 a.m. Friday morning after reports of gunshots coming from the home.

“It was a quite a chaotic scene. Even for the residents in the area, a lot of callers (were) calling in stating that they were hearing a lot of gunshots, a lot of screaming coming from this residence,” Const. George Tudos told reporters.

Tudos said upon arriving, police discovered four males – two under the age of 18 – and one female deceased inside the home.

Lapa was among the four males killed, having suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A 50-year-old female was found in the house with a gunshot wound and she was sent to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. She is expected to survive.

Tudos said all the victims were family members, adding they do not believe the suspect lived in the home.

Relatives and neighbours of the family say Loretta and Chris Traynor lived in the home with their four kids Bradley, Sam, Adelaide, and Joseph.

A relative of the family also said the woman who survived is the mother of the family and one of their children, Sam, wasn’t present at the home at the time of the incident and is away at university.

Loretta and Chris were both teachers. Neighbours said Chris Traynor taught at MPDHS with the Durham Catholic District School Board.

The board said they could not comment as police have not confirmed the identity of the victims but offered their thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this tragedy.

Police confirm the deceased were all known to each other (family). 4 males and 1 female were found dead. 50yo female being treated in hospital. Police waiting for coroner. pic.twitter.com/lwNKGr5sql

— Erica Natividad (@CityErica) September 4, 2020

Tudos told reporters at the scene Friday that police were waiting for the coroner to arrive to identify the victims and get a better understanding of what happened. Based on the initial report, some officers also heard what they believed were gunshots when they arrived at the scene and added it was only safe to enter the brick bungalow once a tactical response team arrived, which is when they found the “grisly” scene.

Late in the afternoon, police tweeted that they had found an “unknown device” in the house, and cleared the area for more than an hour before determining it wasn’t a threat.

Watch: Neighbours express shock after 5 found dead in Oshawa home

People stopped by the house to drop off flowers in memory of the family, and passersby stopped in their cars to take a look at the crime scene.

Carol Gibson, who lives down the street from the crime scene, said she was startled awake by the incident.

“The first shot woke me up, and then I heard about four or five more after that,” Gibson said in an interview. “Then a woman screamed and there were two shots after that.”

Gibson said she had known the family in the house for around 20 years.

“They were a family that cared for each other quite a bit,” said Gibson. “If they weren’t playing baseball, hockey or shooting hoops on the driveway, they were out raking leaves and they did it as a family. A very caring family.”

Gibson said nothing like this has happened on the street before.

Flowers at the scene of what police believe was a murder-suicide in an Oshawa, Ont. neighbourhood on Sept. 4, 2020.