WATCH: Several members of the same family are dead after what appears to be a multiple murder-suicide. Rumina Daya reports.
VANCOUVER – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) says several members of one family, including the suspect, have been found deceased in connection to a suspicious fire in the Rosedale Popkum area.
Just after 3 p.m. on May 7, Langley RCMP received information obtained through social media that indicated an Agassiz man had harmed his family members. As a result of this information, officers went to a Langley home on 271A Street and found someone dead inside. They are not disclosing who that person was at this time.
Further information through social media indicated there was a potential second location of concern in the Rosedale Popkum area.
Upper Fraser Valley Regional RCMP went to a home in the 10000-block of Llanberis Way and with the assistance of the Emergency Response Team, attempted to make contact with a man they believed was inside.
Residents told Global News that at around 7 p.m. they heard gunshots followed by a loud bang.
Neighbours say a family lives in the home – a father, mother and teenage daughter. The home is owned by Randy and Laurel Janzen.
WATCH: Sgt. Stephanie Ashton of IHIT provides an update on the investigation.
A Facebook post that appears to be by a man named Randy Janzen talks about his daughter Emily suffering from a migraines and depression. He writes he could not see her in pain anymore. The post then states Randy killed his daughter Emily, his wife, Laurel, and his sister, Shelly. However, the authorities are not confirming at this time that these are the victims and that this Facebook post is connected.
Randy’s work colleague, Raymond Norfolk said he had never met Emily, but felt like he knew her after working eight years alongside her father.
“It’s brutal. I can’t believe it. Randy was a good buddy, and now he’s gone,” said Norfolk. He said Emily’s pain began as a child but became worse in recent years, necessitating morphine shots. These health problems took a toll on Randy, said Norfolk.
“He was a funny guy, but he was a rollercoaster too. He was depressed, and then one minute he was up. And then he was down.”
WATCH: Asa Rehman with more on Emily Janzen’s social media presence
The Chilliwack School of Performing Arts has posted a message on their Facebook page about Emily Janzen. She was a former student and instructor at the school.
Emily was lauded for her talents by her peers and had aspirations to become an opera singer.
“She was amazing,” said Emily’s former bandmate Kendra Simpson, 17, who remembers her friend as an up-and-coming star. Simpson said Emily would get migraines during band practice a couple times a month, but didn’t tell her friends how bad they were.
“She just sort of took Tylenol or Advil to relieve the pain,” she said.
“She wouldn’t stop. In between she would say she had a headache, and then later start playing again.”
Emily’s Twitter account tells a different story.
A series of tweets from the account believed to be linked to the young girl demonstrate serious health issues.
Meanwhile, her neighbours were told to stay indoors until the scene was deemed safe, which occurred later in the evening on May 7.
“We saw actual swat members walking by,” said one neighbour. “Full gear, helmets, rifles, so you knew something serious was going on.”
Another neighbour said what has happened on their street is “devastating.”
“This investigation is extremely complex involving two crime scenes and potentially multiple victims. At this time, IHIT believes that this incident is not random and the suspect and victims were related to each other,” says Sgt. Stephanie Ashton of IHIT.
If you have information we ask that you contact the IHIT tipline at 1-877-551-4448.
–With files from The Canadian Press.
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