Gunman Who Killed 9, Himself Had Planned Escape, Police Say

VERNON, B.C. - A man who gunned down nine people and shot himself had a deliberate plan to exact revenge on his estranged wife's family, but he didn't initially plan to kill himself, police said.

Sgt. Doug Hartl of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said gunman Mark Chahal drove to nearby Kelowna from the Vancouver area and rented a van - suggesting he intended to make an escape.

"We think his decision to commit suicide is a result of what occurred in the house, maybe because he felt his identity would be known," Hartl said.

The gunman had no criminal record, and the weapons were all registered to him. However, he had a history of violence with his estranged wife and had been threatening her since their separation in January 1995. The couple had lived in the Vancouver area.

The estranged wife, Rajwar Kaur Gakhal, had complained to Vancouver-area police about his behavior. When she moved back to Vernon to be with her parents, she again complained about her estranged husband to police there.

The Okanagan Valley city was struggling to bear up after the mass killing. Friends and relatives continued to arrive for what was supposed to be a joyous wedding celebration yesterday.

The bride-to-be, Balwinder Kaur Gakhal, 24, was killed in Friday's shooting. Her sister and the estranged wife, Rajwar Kaur Gakhal, 26, also died.

Gurmail Kaur Saran, 60, and 6-year-old Justine Kaur Saran were wounded but are expected to recover. Two other children were unharmed.

Hartl said it appears Chahal intended to spare all the children when he marched up to a middle-class home with a handgun in each hand and began firing.

"We feel that the shot that went through the legs of Justine was a stray shot, that may have occurred while she was running out of the room," he said.

Police believe Chahal was only in the residence for three to four minutes, though the dead all had multiple gunshot wounds.

Police at the scene found 28 spent revolver casings and two empty semiautomatic gun clips, which had each contained 10 shots.

It is the second-worst murder-suicide in Canadian history, behind the 1989 Montreal massacre when Marc Lepine killed 14 women and then shot himself.

Trauma teams worked with relatives and members of Vernon's Sikh community. Some family members were taken through the scene as part of the grieving process.

The gunman was found in a motel shortly after the killings, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said he left a short suicide note apologizing for his actions.