RCMP northeast of Edmonton are treating the deaths of two men as a double homicide.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Fort Saskatchewan RCMP were called to a home in Chipman, Alta. after reports of shots fired. Two men were found dead at the home, police said in a media release Monday morning.
“We have two male victims. One is, I believe, 39 years old and one 38 years old,” Cpl. Laurel Scott with RCMP media relations said.
One of the victims has been identified as Terry Sutton, a husband and father.
A male suspect was taken into custody.
Late Monday morning, RCMP remained on scene and the home was cordoned off by police tape. Signs in the window of the home blocked off by police tape read “private property,” “no trespassing” and “never mind the dog, beware of the owner.”
Angie Thurston, who lives three doors down from the home, said she was home Sunday night with her husband, three-year-old son and baby when she heard what she believed were gunshots.
“We just thought it was hunters,” she said Monday.
“All of a sudden there were four or five gunshots in a row and I was like, ‘that’s not farmers.'”
She said her husband went outside for a cigarette and heard screaming.
“He called 911. They told him to get us down in the basement because they hadn’t gotten here yet. So we hid in the basement for about half an hour and then came back up when it was finally OK to come back up. It was scary,” she said.
“It’s a small town… You don’t think that kind of thing would happen here.”
Roma Warren was also home Sunday night when she heard what she thought were gunshots.
“I was like, ‘maybe it’s just people shooting at coyotes’ because they’ve been bad this year,” she said, adding the fact it was a double homicide left her feeling uneasy.
“I do have small children that live in this village,” she said. “It makes me feel unsafe.”
The victims’ identities have not been released nor has the cause of their deaths.
RCMP do not believe this was a random event. Officers do not believe there is any risk to public safety.
Charges have not yet been laid.
An autopsy has been scheduled in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Chipman is located about 75 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.