Quebec homicide investigators are probing a possible double murder and attempted suicide which left two children dead in a wealthy enclave near Montreal.
Police discovered the bodies of Anne-Sophie Turcotte, 3, and Olivier Turcotte, 5, on Saturday at a two-storey home in Piedmont, Que., about 60 kilometres north of Montreal.
The children's 36-year-old father, a cardiologist at the nearby St-Jerome hospital, was found in the house suffering from an apparent drug overdose.
Staff at the St-Jerome hospital said that both parents have worked at the facility as physicians since 2003.
"This tragic event has shaken the medical community," hospital director-general Francois Therrien said on Sunday.
The father, identified as Guy Turcotte, is considered a suspect in the deaths. Turcotte was first sent to the hospital where he works but is now in stable condition at a hospital in Montreal.
Officers said the father was home alone with his two children on the weekend while their mother was away on a ski trip in the province's Saguenay region, which is several hundred kilometres to the northeast.
Police said that the couple were going through a difficult period.
According to hospital staff, the man is a well-respected professional.
"It's a real tragedy, for his wife, all team doctors, all personnel," said Therrien.
The small community of Piedmond, home to about 3,000 people, was reeling from the tragedy.
"We are upset, saddened by this situation," Piedmont mayor Clement Cartier told the French-language news channel LCN.
"We're shocked. We didn't know what to do. The only thing we can do is offer the sincere condolences to the family."
Officers revealed on Sunday that another relative had called police on Saturday and asked them to check up on the father, CTV Montreal reported.
The relative became concerned and called 911 after not hearing from the family.
Autopsies on the children's bodies are expected to be completed on either Monday or Tuesday.
Meanwhile, police won't say if there were any marks or signs of violence on the children.
Police would also not confirm if they were investigation a murder-suicide.
With reports from CTV Montreal's Daniele Hamamdjian and The Canadian Press
