Canadian couple about to get married, 27 and 28, are shot by their landlord on their lawn after trying to run away from him during an argument: the suspect barricaded himself in his home before being killed by cops
- Police were called to the Stoney Creek district of Hamilton, Ont., at 5:40 p.m. Saturday to reports of shots being fired
- They found a 27-year-old woman and her 28-year-old fiancé dead on the lawn in front of the house: the couple had fled their landlord
- Terry Bourassa, 57, had argued with the couple about the basement, where they lived: when the police arrived, he barricaded himself and was shot dead at 10 p.m.
An engaged Canadian couple were shot dead by their landlord on the lawn of their home, with the landlord then barricading himself before being killed in a shootout with police.
Police were called to the home in the Stoney Creek district of Hamilton, Ont., at 5:40 p.m. Saturday when gunshots were found.
They found dead the 27-year-old woman, who worked as an educational assistant at a local Catholic school, and her 28-year-old electrician fiancé.
The couple, who have not been named, rented the basement of a house belonging to Terry Bourassa, 57.
The couple had a falling out with Bourassa, following a “disagreement over issues within the home,” Det. sergeant. Steve Bereziuk of the Hamilton Police Major Crimes Unit.
The engaged couple lived in the basement of this house in Stoney Creek, Hamilton: their landlord Terry Bourassa lived above. He shot and killed the couple on Saturday during an argument over the house, before barricading himself inside and being shot dead by police.
They were fleeing the house when they were shot.
“(They were) both hard working people, adding to the tragedy of this event,” he said.
Neither the couple nor Bourassa were known to police, Bereziuk confirmed, making what happened “a bit more shocking”.
Bereziuk added that the murder of the young couple was deeply shocking.
“As you can well imagine, these are not people this should happen to,” he said.
“They are not involved in any level of crime or lifestyle that could lead to an incident like this. They are really innocent.
Bourassa then barricaded himself inside the house, with weapons he legally possessed.
Bereziuk said police spent a “considerable amount of time” trying to broker a “peaceful solution” with Bourassa, but he opened fire on them around 10 p.m. and was shot.
Sandra Chaisson, a resident of more than four decades in the area of the incident, said the landlord bought the Jones Road house from her grandparents.
chaisson said CP24 news that Bourassa had lived in the house for more than 20 years.
‘He was very calm. A very calm man. I haven’t seen him much, just to say hi, but I haven’t seen him for a long time,” she said.
“The tenants were in the basement, but I didn’t know them, just to see them at the mailbox.”
Chaisson said she was watching television around 10 p.m. when she heard six to eight rapid gunshots.
“It was kind of scary,” she said. “It’s a shock to all of us.”
