ST-ROMAIN, Que. - A 35-year-old Quebec man was taken into custody after an elderly woman and two girls were found dead in a home east of Montreal.
Quebec provincial police were called to a residence in the St-Romain, in the Eastern Townships, around 6 p.m. Friday.
Officers found the man inside along with the bodies of a 70-year-old woman and two girls, ages eight and 11.
Louis-Philippe Ruel, a spokesman for the police force, said the man was taken in for questioning Friday and could face charges shortly.
News of the deaths spread quickly through the small town of 700.
"We are all shocked," Michelle Lessard, owner of a local restaurant, said Saturday.
"These are people we know well, and we like them a lot."
Lessard said the 35-year-old man was close to the victims and suffered from schizophrenia. Investigators aren't saying whether the victims and the suspect are related. St-Romain is about 240 kilometres from Montreal.
© The Canadian Press, 2012