Vernon massacre

On April 5, 1996, at about 10:30 a.m. in Vernon, Mark Vijay Chahal drove to his ex-wife's home, where one of her sisters was preparing for a wedding. He held a .40 caliber S&W semi-automatic pistol and a .38 caliber revolver in both hands. He shot his ex-wife's father in front of the house while he was washing the car. He then fired at the window of the house. Then he went into the house and went from room to room shooting the mother of his ex, his ex, her four sisters, her brother and the husband of one of the sisters. A girl and the mother of his ex-wife were injured and survived, and two other girls were unharmed. Six people died on the spot, three more in hospital. The shooting lasted 3-4 minutes. Two empty 10 round magazines and 28 revolver shell casings were found at the scene. After the shooting he drove to a motel 3km away. At the motel, he wrote a note apologizing to his family for the shooting and writing several numbers of his relatives. At about 11 a.m., he shot himself in a motel. A 12-gauge pump-action shotgun was found in his car.[1][2][3][4]

Mark Vijay Chahal, 30, divorced his wife in January 1995. The wife has repeatedly complained to the police about domestic violence. He also threatened his ex-family that not one of the daughters would marry. Chahal had no criminal record and all weapons were registered to him. Before the shooting, he exchanged his car for a rented van. Because of this, police speculated that he was planning to flee after the shooting.[1][2][3][4]

• Memorial to the victims of the shooting
• Vigil to remember Vernon mass murder