The moments before, during and after a Hamilton landlord killed his 2 tenants: SIU report

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

A report from Ontario's police watchdog offers new details about the moments before, during and after an hours-long standoff on May 27 between Hamilton police and a landlord who killed his two tenants.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) released its report Monday evening after reviewing surveillance footage, 911 calls, and interviewing seven civilian witnesses and 10 police officers, one of whom fired the single shot that killed the 57-year-old landlord.

The report says the landlord and tenants Carissa MacDonald, 27, and Aaron Stone, 28, had a "falling out" over "who was going to pay for damage done to some property in and around the home."

Police have not released the name of the landlord, who neighbours say also lived in the home. Terry Gerald Brekka owned the house on Jones Road in Hamilton's Stoney Creek area, according to property records.

WATCH: Police respond after two people were shot to death in Hamilton:

Police respond after two people were shot to death in Hamilton

2 years ago

Duration 0:49

The special investigations unit is investigating after they say a man was killed during "an exchange of gunfire" with Hamilton police on Saturday May, 27, 2023. The man, police say, was suspected of killing a man and a woman who were renters in an east Hamilton home.

Police and a close friend of the couple also previously told CBC Hamilton the shootings may have been related to a complaint about mould in the rental unit.

The couple's family said MacDonald and Stone were planning to move into their new home that week and get married in the summer.

911 call describes moments before the shooting

The SIU says the first 911 caller was communicating with MacDonald over the phone.

The landlord had a drinking problem and a history of "threatening" MacDonald, according to the caller.

The caller said the landlord asked MacDonald for extra money and said, "OK, you've got one second to pay."

When MacDonald and Stone made it clear they wouldn't pay for the damage, the landlord left the home and returned with a gun, the report says.

MacDonald screamed "several times" and said she would pay the money, and shouted for the person she was on the phone with to call 911, according to the report.

"There was a sound of the phone dropping and the sound of gunshots," the SIU says.

Landlord stood over wounded tenant, firing more shots

The landlord shot Stone and then shot at MacDonald as she was running away, according to the report.

After MacDonald fell on the road, the report says, the landlord "stood over her, fired several more times, and then re-entered his home."

Multiple witnesses called police at roughly 5:40 p.m., leading officers to arrive and set up a command post.

The report says crisis negotiators and the Hamilton police emergency response unit arrived in their armoured rescue vehicle.

The vehicle was parked in front of the home to shield officers from any bullets and prevent the landlord from fleeing in a vehicle, the report says.

These moments marked the start of an hours-long standoff between police and the landlord.

The standoff

The SIU states the landlord asked over the phone if MacDonald and Stone were dead, and after hearing they were, asked police to apologize to their families before hanging up the phone.

The report says police communicated with the landlord through his family members on the phone. When speaking to them, he repeatedly apologized for the killings.

He also said he "would not emerge from his predicament alive, and suggested he would fight the police," according to police on the scene, who also learned the landlord owned multiple guns.

At roughly 10:10 p.m., the report says, the landlord fired his gun from behind his front door.

Roughly 10 minutes later, the landlord fired again — but this time police fired back.

An officer fired a single shot through the turret hatch of the armoured vehicle, and it hit the landlord in the chest and killed him, the report says, adding the use of force was justified.

The landlord made it into the garage before ending up face down on the floor.

Police used the armoured vehicle's front ram to break through the front door and deployed a robot to assess the scene, the report says, before eventually breaching the garage door and finding the landlord.

The robot found two Scorpion carbine pistols and a DPMS Panther Arms rifle — all of which are prohibited firearms — the landlord likely used to shoot at police, the report says.

The SIU previously said it found two other guns in the home.

MacDonald and Stone were remembered by family, friends and co-workers as being empathetic, caring and warm.

"They were such family oriented people who were so full of life and love," read a statement previously released by their families.

"What happened to Carissa and Aaron was truly an act of unnecessary violence and they will be dearly missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing them."