Manitoba RCMP are continuing to investigate the deaths of three children and two women

KARMAN, man. — Children's toys and a bicycle were strewn over the back lawn of a small white bungalow in a Manitoba town over the weekend where police were investigating one of the scenes surrounding the suspicious deaths of three children and two women.

Police tape cordoned off the front and back yards of the Carman home on Monday, and forensic teams with police officers could be seen going in and out. Police cars are parked in front and behind the house.

It was one of three incidents that officers were working on Sunday to piece together how the death happened.

It started early Sunday morning when police were called to the area outside the town of about 3,000 people, about 85 km southwest of Winnipeg, to reports of a hit-and-run on Highway 3.

A woman was found dead in a ditch.

More than two hours later and 70 kilometers to the north, officers were called to a report of a car on fire and a witness learned that three children had been pulled out of it.

The children were pronounced dead, and police arrested a 29-year-old man at the scene.

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READ MORE: 3 children, 2 women dead in southern Manitoba; The suspect is in custody: RKMP

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Further investigation led officers to a home in Carman where they found the body of another woman inside.

RCMP Insp. Tim Arsenault gave few details at a news conference Sunday, but police believe the five victims and the suspect all knew each other.

He said it was too early to determine what happened between the deceased and the suspect.

“We have teams and a team of investigators working on this now and trying to understand what happened (and) why it happened,” he said on Sunday.

He did not give the ages of any of the dead or describe the relationship between them and the suspect.

Carman Mayor Brent Owen said he was saddened to hear about the deaths, adding that about 80 percent of the city's residents did not know the victims personally, although they did.

He said he learned of the first death after receiving a text from a community member, but didn't fully understand the extent of what happened until he heard the details from police.

“It's scary. You will receive five people and three children from our community. It is impossible to imagine,” he expressed his condolences to his friends and relatives.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew expressed his condolences in a message on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

“Comfort and strength to the families and community of Carman during this difficult loss,” Kinew wrote

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, who grew up in Karman, also offered his condolences to X. He said he was “shocked and saddened” by the news.

“My deepest condolences go out to the community and families affected by this tragedy,” Gillingham said Sunday.

The RCMP will hold a press conference on the case in Winnipeg on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 12, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, Canadian Press