Geneva woman arrested in Canadian shooting plot identified

TORONTO (WLS) -- Canadian police have identified Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath, 23, of Geneva, Ill. and Randall Steven Shepherd, 20, of Nova Scotia as the "murderous misfits" who planned a Valentine's Day mass shooting in Halifax Canada. Both have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Police foiled a plot by Souvannarath and who were planning to go to a mall and kill as many people as they could before committing suicide on Valentine's Day in Halifax, a senior police official said. Police acted on a tip from the Crime Stoppers tip line to stop Souvannarath and Shepherd.

Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath (Photo courtesy: Chicago Sun-Times)

Souvannarath was arrested at Halifax airport and confessed to the plot, an official said, adding that she had prepared a number of pronouncements to be tweeted after her death.

"RCMP and HRP have laid charges in this incident and have eliminated the threat," said Chief Jean-Michel Blais, Halifax Regional Police. "This is a reminder that this type of incident can happen anywhere. Recognizing our citizens may be anxious in the wake of this news, we have additional high visibility patrols in and around the city. We encourage people to go about their daily lives."

A 19-year-old male suspect shot himself to death after police surrounded his home, the official said.

At the home of the male suspect, police saw two people leave the house who they determined were his parents and pulled them over on a traffic check. They then called the suspect.

The man told police that he didn't have any guns, but shot himself as he was on his way out of the house, the official told the AP.

The official said police worked with Canadian border officials to find the female suspect on her flight as she was making her way from Chicago.

The official said the suspects used a chat stream and were apparently obsessed with death and had many photos of mass killings. Police and Canadian Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the plot was not related to terrorism.

"This appeared to be a group of murderous misfits," MacKay said. "The attack does not appear to have been culturally motivated, therefore not linked to terrorism."

MacKay credited police for their quick action and said all the suspects have been arrested or are dead.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney applauded the work of police in Canada and Geneva, Illinois, and well as border officials in a statement. The Geneva police department said in a statement they were contacted by Canadian police and had no contact with the American woman before her arrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report