Toronto police have charged a 40-year-old man with three counts of first-degree murder after a woman and her two small children were killed

Tracy Huffman:

Neighbours walking outside say they heard screams and yelling coming from the family’s basement apartment, in a quiet residential Scarborough neighbourhood, at around 6p.m. – the same time, police say, that a man called 911 from the house asking for help.

Officers responding to the call at the house, near Victoria Park Ave. and Finch Ave. E., were left reeling by the carnage.

"We're dealing with a horrific scene," said 42 Division Supt. Gary Ellis.

"Our officers are traumatized by what they've run into here."

Police would not confirm that the mother and children were stabbed.

One visibly shaken officer, asked to describe the scene that met officers entering the basement level of the modest split-level house on Chester Le Blvd., said "I can't tell you right now, I'll break down."

Police confirmed this morning that a 5-month-old boy and a 3-year-old girl were killed, along with a 38-year-old woman. The victims — the city's fifth, sixth and seventh homicides this year — have not yet been named, pending notification of next of kin.

A neighbour said she heard screams from the house around 6 p.m., just moments before a man inside the apartment called 911.

Officers arriving on the scene had to force their way in, police said, but were able to arrest a man without incident.

The suspect is in hospital with minor injuries.

Police would not speculate on the nature of the injuries, or whether they were self-inflicted.

One neighbour said she was passing the house on her way home from a nearby bus stop when she heard a commotion coming from the family's basement apartment.

"I heard kids screaming and an adult screaming," said the woman, who lives across the street, but does not want her name used.

"I thought it was kids playing or watching television. If only I could have helped — those kids were in there! I could have helped."

The woman, who said she didn't know the family, said she heard the adults arguing at various points during the past summer.

According to another neighbour, the husband and wife operated a supermarket at Victoria Park and McNicoll Aves. nearby, but had money problems and finally had to walk away from the business.

A security guard at the Victoria Business Centre, where the couple operated their store, said they were six months behind in their rent last summer, when creditors moved in and forced the store to close.

Bibi Maria Dhafan, another neighbour, said she'd seen the two adults outside playing with their young children in the past.

"I don't know them personally, I just see them while I'm walking to and from the grocery store, that's it," she said.

"I always see them outside playing with their kids. They're small kids," she added.

"I was so amazed when I found out that something happened over there.

"They seem like such nice people, like a happy family. I never see them fighting or hear them shouting, or anything."

The corner house was cordoned off with yellow police tape, while police cruisers cut off traffic to the street.

A small stroller sat abandoned outside the double-car garage, while uniformed officers huddled on the sidewalk in the cold night air.

Around 9:30 p.m. officers with the forensic identification unit entered the house to comb the apartment for evidence and photograph the gruesome scene before the bodies of the three deceased were removed.

Neighbours believe the couple had lived there for about a year and a half.

Police had not visited the home in the recent past. They were also unaware as to whether the man suffered from any mental illness.

However, Ellis said police were dealing with a language barrier and had called in Chinese-speaking officers to assist in the investigation.

Huc Minh Chau of Toronto was arrested at the scene and is scheduled to appear in court later today.

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