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He faces three charges of first-degree murder, which indicate police believe the murders were planned and deliberate.

Autopsies were being conducted Friday, and police have said the three victims appeared to have been injured by a bolt, the heavy arrow used with crossbows. A crossbow was recovered near the bodies, police said, and Ryan was taken into custody at the same location.

Residents on the street in a suburban east Toronto neighbourhood, between a park and an elementary school, described a scene of panic, originally reported to paramedics in emergency phone calls as “multiple traumas” from an apparent stabbing spree.

One man who fled the murder house took shelter across the street at the home of Warren Dalton, who made one of the 911 calls, and said in an interview that this man was evidently in shock. He was screaming for police, and for help for his injured brother.

Dalton said he took a towel over to the scene, hoping to help. He found a man lying on the driveway, his face and body so covered in blood that he could not find a wound.

“I couldn’t tell, there was too much blood,” he said.

The other two victims are reported to have been found a few metres away in the garage of the well-kept bungalow. The property backs on to the home of Jerome Cruz, who was working on his deck Thursday about 1 p.m. when he heard a brief commotion, including shouts of “calm down.”

His wife Vijaya Cruz recalled a distant but cordial relationship with a quiet older couple who lived there until the husband died more than a year ago.