TORONTO — Canadian police have foiled a plot by two suspects who were planning to go to a mall and kill as many people as they could before committing suicide on Valentine’s Day in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a senior police official said.
Police said in a statement that Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath, 23, of Geneva, Illinois, and Randall Steven Shepherd, 20, of Nova Scotia have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. They are due in court Tuesday.
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The senior police official earlier told The Associated Press on Saturday that police acted quickly after receiving information from the public on the Crime Stoppers tip line. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
A 19-year-old male suspect shot himself to death after police surrounded his home, the official said. The 23-year-old American woman was arrested at Halifax airport and confessed to the plot, the official said, adding that she had prepared a number of pronouncements to be tweeted after her death.
The official said the suspects used a chat stream and were apparently obsessed with death and had many photos of mass killings. Police and Canadian Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the plot was not related to terrorism.
“This appeared to be a group of murderous misfits,” Mac- Kay said. “The attack does not appear to have been culturally motivated, therefore not linked to terrorism.”
MacKay credited police for their quick action.
At the home of the male suspect, police saw two people leave the house who they determined were his parents and pulled them over on a traffic check. They then called the suspect.
The man told police that he didn’t have any guns, but shot himself as he was on his way out of the house, the official told the AP.
The official said police worked with Canadian border officials to find the female suspect on her flight as she was making her way from Chicago.
Police said Friday they first received information a day earlier about a potentially significant weapons-related threat. Police initially said two other Nova Scotia men, ages 20 and 17, were also involved, but said the investigation was continuing. Police charged the 20-year-old. The police official said the 17-year-old was wanted for threatening to shoot up a high school and had an outstanding warrant. Police said they released the 17-year-old overnight without filing charges.
MacKay said all the suspects have been arrested or are dead.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney applauded the work of police in Canada and Geneva and well as border officials. The Geneva police department said it was contacted by Canadian police and had no contact with the American woman before her arrest.
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