Carissa MacDonald and Aaron Stone (Hamilton Police Service)
A young Canadian couple that was engaged to be married were allegedly shot and killed on the front lawn of their residence by their 57-year-old landlord following an argument over mold in the home, authorities say. The landlord was killed later that day following a shootout with police who responded to the scene.
According to a pair of press releases from the Hamilton Police Service, the landlord — whose name has not been disclosed by investigators at the request of his family — is accused of killing Carissa MacDonald and Aaron Stone in front of their residence in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
HPS officers at about 5:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 27 responded to an emergency call at a house located in the 300 block of Jones Road in Stony Creek. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders say they found the 27-year-old MacDonald and 28-year-old Stone already dead in front of the home and noted that both of the deceased were tenants of the residence.
Police said that the landlord then “barricaded himself” inside the home with multiple firearms that were legally registered to him. Hamilton Police Emergency Response Unit responded to the address to contain the scene while negotiators engaged with the 57-year-old man in an effort to resolve the standoff peacefully, the release states.
While the negotiations were still ongoing, the landlord allegedly fired and struck an armored vehicle, police said.
Several hours into the standoff, the suspect allegedly fired multiple additional rounds at the responding officers which resulted in “an interaction with police,” per the release. Officers exchanged gunfire with the landlord who was fatally wounded in the shootout.
HPS officers during the multi-hour standoff with the suspected murder (CBC News screenshot)
Following the deadly exchange with the suspected murderer, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit was contacted and responded to the address. SIU is a civilian law enforcement agency that conducts criminal investigations into interactions between police and civilians that involve allegations of sexual assault or result in death or serious injury.
In a press release, SIU said that the shootout between police and the landlord took place at approximately 10 p.m. that evening resulting in the suspect being struck at least once. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The agency said that six investigators and four forensic investigators have been assigned to the case along with seven witness officials.
SIU investigators further said that a total of five firearms were located inside the landlord’s residence. Those guns as well as the one police-issued firearm used to kill the suspect were collected and forwarded to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for analysis.
In an interview with Toronto’s CP24, Det. Steve Bereziuk reportedly said that the couple were fleeing from the residence when they were shot and referred to the victims as “truly innocent.”
“As you can well imagine, these are not people that this should happen to,” he reportedly said. “They’re not involved in any level of criminality or lifestyle that may lead to an incident like this.”
The agency urged anyone with additional information or video footage of the incident to contact SIU at 1-800-787-8529 or online at: https://siu.on.ca/en/appeals.php.
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