Calgary’s ‘Worst Mass Murder’ Leaves 5 Students Dead

A 23-year-old man will likely face murder charges after allegedly stabbing and killing five University of Calgary students at a party on Tuesday.

After arriving at a party shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the suspect — who was an invited guest and is also a student at the university — allegedly targeted other students individually, according to Calgary police chief Rick Hanson. “The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them,” said Hanson.

Calling the incident “the worst mass murder in Calgary’s history,” the chief identified the arrested suspect as Matthew de Grood.

Hanson said de Grood had no prior history with the police and was likely not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. Police believe he brought a weapon directly from his place of work to the party, but used a knife found at the party to stab his victims.

“The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them,” Hanson said.

The victims were four males and one female. Two of them have been identified as Josh Hunter and Zackariah Rathwell, members of the Calgary band Zackariah and the Prophets, which just put out a debut album on Saturday.

[CBC]