Two police officers were killed today by a gunman in Edmonton, western Canada, when they rushed to investigate an incident of domestic violence.

It was around 01:00 (local time) when two police officers, aged 30 and 35, arrived at a house located in a central part of the city.

They were shot by a young man when they arrived at the scene and did not “have time to react”, the police said, adding that the attacker took his own life.

A woman was taken seriously injured to a hospital and her condition is described as critical by the doctors.

“This incident will affect our community, but everyone has to stand by each other,” Edmonton Police Chief Dale McPhee said at a news conference.

“It’s a particularly difficult and sad day,” said Mayor Amarjit Sohi. “Every day, the families of police officers say goodbye to their loved ones when they leave for work, and hope that they will return safe and sound,” he added, expressing his condolences to the families of the victims.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter to comment on the incident, saying that “police officers are exposed to danger every day to protect citizens,” and the shooting death of two police officers in Edmonton reminds everyone of that reality.

In recent years, Canada has faced an uptick in gun violence, even if the frequency is much lower than in the neighboring United States.