Victim in Ottawa mass stabbing had children, wife in Sri Lanka

A man who died alongside five members of a family in a mass killing in Ottawa's Barrhaven neighbourhood on Wednesday is said to have been supporting his own family in Sri Lanka.

Gamini Amarakoon, an acquaintance of the Wickramasinghe family, was living with them when he, along with the mother of the family her four children, were killed.

Their bodies were found by police inside a townhouse the family was renting on Berrigan Drive near Palmadeo Drive in the capital's southern suburbs, after the police received 911 calls to the home late on Wednesday night.

Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, the father of the family, was the sole survivor of the attack.

The family were newcomers from Sri Lanka, from which Amarakoon had arrived even more recently, according to Anzul Jhan, the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner.

Jhan said Amarakoon was the only member of his family in Canada, on a work permit, and that he was supporting his wife, two children, mother and a sister who are still living in Sri Lanka.

"So that is very tragic news for them," Jhan told CBC News.

Naradha Kodituwakku, a community leader at the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya Buddhist Monastery, where the Wickramasinghe family were members, said he believed Amarakoon had moved to Canada two months ago.

"Obviously there is a family that is torn there too," he said.

He said the temple and High Commission are both working to support Amarakoon's family in Sri Lanka.

The family's father, Dhanushka Wickramasing, moved to Canada in 2020 after completing his education and getting a work permit, according to Bhante Suneetha, a resident monk and director of the monastery.

Suneetha said the mother, 35-year-old Darshani Dilanthika Ekanayake, and three of the children, moved to Canada last year while she was pregnant with her fourth child.

She and the children — daughters Kelly, who was two months old; Ranaya, 3; and Ashwini, 4, and son Inuka, 7 — were all killed on Wednesday.

Suneetha said the family came to his temple for events and helped out.

"They are innocent and also very helpful people. It doesn't matter [who would ask] for help from them."

Jhan said the High Commission has been working with leaders from the temple to contact family members of the victims.

"This is something we never expected as a community to happen. It was so sudden," Jhan said. "Within moments, one person's whole family was gone."

Jhan said the family of the suspect, Febrio De-Zoysa, had not yet come forward, but that she hopes they will get in touch so the High Commission can offer proper consular services.

De-Zoysa, 19, came to Canada from Sri Lanka as an international student, according to police. He was arrested at the scene and is facing six first-degree murder charges and one count of attempted murder. He was also living in the home.

Algonquin College president Claude Brulé said Thursday De-Zoysa had been a student there, and that he was last enrolled at the school in the winter semester of 2023.

Harpreet Chhabra, the owner of the home the Wickramasinghe family was renting, told CBC News they had moved in in June or July 2023.

Chhabra said he was at the Montreal airport on his way to Mexico for a family vacation when he got a call from the police early Thursday morning informing him of the tragedy.

"I was shocked. I don't know how to put this in words," Chhabra told CBC News. "You're never prepared for these kinds of calls."

Chhabra said he met the father once, when there was an issue with the house, but had never met the mother or children.

He added that, until Thursday, he was unaware that other people were also living in the house.

Although his contact with the family was minimal, he spoke highly of the father's character, describing him as soft-spoken and respectful.

"He was a great father. That's my personal perception."

A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. in Barrhaven's Palmadeo Park.