Woman stabbed to death in south Ottawa park, suspect arrested

A woman was fatally stabbed in an Ottawa park in front of her two young children Thursday morning, Ottawa police and other sources said.

In a news release, police said the woman was attacked around 11:26 a.m. near the intersection of Uplands and Paul Anka drives, near the city's airport.

According to sources, the woman was at Paul Landry Park with her two young children when she was stabbed. She died at the scene, sources told CBC.

Police later identified the victim as Brkti Berhe, 36.

Photos from the scene show yellow police tape surrounding an empty stroller on a park path near a children's playground. Paramedics told CBC the woman's children were uninjured but were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Police said the male suspect, also 36, fled in a vehicle and was arrested near exit 66 on Highway 417 in Casselman, about 50 kilometres east of the park.

Police released no further information about either the victim or the suspect.

Flowers were left near the scene of the stabbing on Thursday afternoon. (Robyn Miller/CBC)

The homicide investigation is ongoing and charges are pending against the suspect, police said.

Uplands Drive reopened to traffic around 5 p.m. Thursday. The scene is about nine kilometres south of Ottawa's downtown core.