RCMP arrest male suspect in double homicide southeast of Winnipeg

RCMP have arrested a man in connection with a double homicide at a property in the rural municipality ofTach.

At about 1:15 a.m. Thursday, officers with the St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP detachment responded to a disturbance call from inside a homeon River Road.

They arrived and found two adults, a man and a woman, who were dead. Both deaths are being treated as homicides.

"We know that this crime will be devastating for so many in this community,"Cpl. Julie Courchenetold reporters Thursday at a news conference near the crime scene,just east of the town of Lorette,southeast of Winnipeg.

Shortly after RCMPfound the pair dead, they received a report about a suspicious male. Officers found a man nearby who was arrested and is considered a suspect, she said.

Courtney Sarrasinand her husband live on the other side of River Road from the crime scene. She says they were awakenedat three in the morning when RCMP officers arrived.

"This is such a quietarea, you don't expect anything to happen out here. I feel so awful for the family," she said.

Sarrasinsays she would runinto her neighbours from time to time, while workingoutside in her yard.

"We knew of them but didn't know them," she said. "(They were) very friendly, very nice."

Sarrasin described the victims as a kind older couple.

Police spent the morning knocking on doors in the area,in hopes of gathering more information, but RCMPsaid there is no ongoing threat to public safety.

Several morehouses down from the victims,JaymeRivardreceived texts earlier in the day asking if she was OK.

That's how she found out there was a homicide near her home.

"My question right now is;the suspect in custody is he known to the (victims)?" Rivard said.

"As sad as it is, obviously (knowing)that would put my mind at ease a little bit."

At Thursday's news conference,RCMP said it wasn't clear whether the man in custodyand the victims knew each other.

The investigation continues.