Canadian police stopped a plot in which at least two people had obtained weapons and planned to open fire in a public place on Valentine’s Day before committing suicide, authorities said Friday.
Three people have been arrested and a fourth suspect was found dead in a residence, Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brian Brennan said at a press conference.
Brennan did not reveal the suspects’ alleged motives, only saying they were “a group of individuals who had some beliefs and were willing to carry out violent acts.”
Their motivation, he said, was “not culturally based.”
Authorities received a tip Thursday morning that a 19-year-old Timberlea man and a 23-year old Geneva, Illinois, woman had weapons and planned to go to a public location in Halifax on Saturday with “a goal of opening fire to kill citizens, and then themselves,” Brennan said.
“The possibility for a large loss of life was definitely there,” he said, declining to say what public place they planned to use.
Police went to a residence on Thursday and found the 19-year-old suspect dead, Brennan said. He would not say how the man died.
The woman and a 20-year-old man were arrested at about 2 a.m. Friday at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, he said, and later in the day police arrested a 17-year-old male.
All three remain in custody and no other arrests are expected. Brennan would not say what kind of weapons were confiscated.
