“We'll get through this, but it won't be easy” – Winnipeg Free Press

CARMAN — The horrific, violent deaths of a mother, her teenage nephew and her three children in this southern Manitoba community have left horrified residents trying to make sense of the bloodshed.

“This is the second year we've lived here, and in the summer we'd see kids playing in the yard and things like that,” said Daniel Schmitt, 110 3rd St. NW lived near the house. it housed all the victims and the man accused of killing them.

“It's a very scary feeling, you don't know what's going on in your neighbor's house. You would never expect it. It's an absolute shock to the city.”

Schmitt spoke from the front steps Monday as forensic investigators walked in and out of a nearby home where Mounties found the body of one of the victims a day earlier.

Outside, RCMP officers guarded the property, which was full of children's toys.

Schmitt first realized something was up Sunday evening, when multiple police units descended on the home and cordoned off the perimeter with yellow caution tape. By then, word of the incident had spread throughout the city, he said.

Manitoba RCMP say Carman's wife and her three children were found at separate crime scenes on Sunday.

Friends of the five victims identified them Free press as Amanda Clearwater, 30, her three children Bethany, 6, Jayven, 4, and 2 1/2-month-old baby Isabella, and niece Maya Gratton, 17, of Clearwater.

Police found Clearwater's body at 7:20 a.m. in a ditch about seven miles south of Carman.

The children were pronounced dead around 10 a.m. near a burning SUV near St. Eustatius, about 70 kilometers to the north.

Ryan Howard Manoakisik, 29, Clearwater's common-law husband and father of all three children, was taken into custody without incident near the burning vehicle. An investigation later led police to Carman's home, where they found Gratton's body.

Manoakesik was charged with first-degree murder in all five murders.

“He was a weird guy,” Schmitt said of Manoakeisik, who said she had several interactions with the “cold” man in recent months and witnessed him using drugs in a neighbor's backyard.

“We have a very tight-knit community. We will get through this, but it won't be easy.”– Carman Mayor Brent Owen

“I wanted to adopt children because I resented their environment.”

Hours after the body was found inside the home, Schmitt said he saw area residents walk past the house in groups of twos and threes — some stopping briefly behind pieces of police tape to cry or bow their heads in prayer.

Several people who knocked on her door Sunday night showed support for her and people nearby, she said.

He stayed home from work Monday to spend time with his wife and one-year-old daughter; he believes other people in the community have done the same.

“No one is ever prepared to deal with a scenario like this,” Carman Mayor Brent Owen said, describing the killing as “horrific.”

“We have a very tight-knit community. We will get through this, but it won't be easy.”

Owen said he has received dozens of calls from journalists, community members and government officials from across Canada about the tragedy, including Prime Minister Wab Kinew.

He met with city council members and discussed bringing in counselors to help the community deal with the traumatic situation.

Support workers will also appear at Carman College, where Gratton was a student, he said.

Carman United Church leader Harold Kenyon said he also met with community leaders.

“My colleagues were here this morning and we have identified all the people who have been affected by this and how the church and the congregation are supporting each other,” he said.

“Obviously for the families involved in this, but also for the RCMP and first responders, we're just trying to help.”

The church opened its doors to the public on Monday, offering sanctuary for grieving residents.

Carman Community Wellness, a local nonprofit, plans to host a monthly community dinner on Wednesdays, with additional staff to support attendees, Kenyon added.

“It's a very generous community and I think there's a strong sense of togetherness,” he said. “One person or group cannot provide all the help. It's really complicated…. We encouraged people not to be alone, to reach out for help, to pray for their neighbors and to stay connected.”

Barbara Alary, owner of Bell Aura Bed, Breakfast & Bistro, said Manoakisik stayed with her for a month about five years ago.

She said he deals with mental illness and recently sought help from a psychiatrist.

A review of court records confirmed that Manoakesik struggled with mental illness and addiction when he was convicted of a drug-related offense in 2019 and ordered to participate in substance abuse and mental health evaluations.

“What happened?” No control? Has anyone checked it out? He clearly had a mental disorder,” Alary said. “This could have been prevented.”

He did not know any of the victims, but said the news devastated the community.

“It wasn't true,” he said. “It looked like something on TV, but then you found out who it was and it felt more real and more real.”

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