The RCMP say four people who were found dead inside a home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. died of gunshot wounds.
Guysborough RCMP responded to the home shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found four bodies inside.
Police confirm the bodies are those of a 52-year-old woman, 31-year-old woman, 10-year-old girl and a 33-year-old man.
Police have not identified the victims, citing the Privacy Act, but they confirm they were all related.
Family members tell CTV News the victims are Shanna Desmond, her young daughter Aaliyah, her husband Lionel Desmond, and his mother, Brenda Desmond.
Police say it appears all four died of gunshot wounds, but autopsies will be conducted to confirm the cause of death.
Police say the man’s gunshot wounds appear to be self-inflicted. There were no signs of forced entry into the home.
Police say they are not looking for any suspects at this time and the public is not at risk.
Investigators have remained on scene since Tuesday evening and the home is cordoned off. Police say they have found two firearms but they are still searching the scene.
Upper Big Tracadie is located roughly 39 kilometres east of Antigonish.
Victim’s aunt says man suffered from PTSD
Shanna Desmond’s aunt, Catherine Hartling, says she was working on her computer Tuesday evening when she received a call from her brother-in-law who told her about the incident.
She says she went to the home, where some relatives were starting to gather.
“I went to walk up on the patio and he said, ‘You can’t go in there,’ he said, and I said, ‘Is there anybody with a pulse? And he said, ‘No,’” she says.
“It made me feel empty, empty inside, really empty.”
Hartling returned home after police arrived on scene, but says she couldn’t sleep.
“It was like a dream, like I was in a daze, and I could not go to bed,” she says. “While I was getting up I was praying and saying, ‘Did this really happen? Did it really happen, or did I just see it on TV?’
Hartling says Lionel Desmond was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and served in Afghanistan. She says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and didn’t get the help he needed.
“It could have been avoided because he served overseas and he came home and he had the PTSD and they didn’t give him the proper help,” says Hartling.
“Our government and our health system is failing our men. They want them to serve overseas and then when they come back they just throw them aside like a piece of trash. He fought for a while … they didn’t’ really help him. They put like a little Band-Aid on him, gave him medication and sent him home.”
Hartling says she saw the family on New Year’s Eve.
“All those people that woke up this morning with their children and their families, put your arms around them and keep them tight, because you never know and all we’ve got to do is just start praying more.”
