Susan Clairmont: Adult son charged with second degree murder following double stabbing that killed mother, injured father

A mother has died after being stabbed by her adult son and the father is in hospital with knife wounds.

It is not the first tragedy for this family.

The three relatives lived together on the west Mountain when chaos erupted inside their home Friday afternoon. Several 911 calls were made by those involved, according to Staff Sgt. Jim Callender, the Hamilton Police homicide detective in charge of the investigation.

Catharine Ambrose, 63, died in hospital Saturday morning.

Her husband Peter Ambrose is also 63. He is in stable condition.

Their son, Devon Ambrose, 30, is charged with second degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of assault a peace officer with a weapon and resist arrest. He appeared in court Saturday morning and is being held at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

Devon's younger brother, Julian Ambrose, was killed in a car crash six years ago. He was 20.

Callender says Devon has had limited interaction" with police in the past.

It is the city's 15th homicide of the year - the most in recent memory. In 1995 there were 16 homicides.

The 12:45 p.m. call was originally described as a disturbance" near Upper Paradise and Bendamere Avenue on the Hamilton Police Twitter feed. Police surrounded a home on West 31st Street.

Devon and his parents were the only people in the house.

When police arrived, the situation was dynamic," Callender said at a news conference Saturday morning. There was a short foot chase and a man with a knife prepared to charge" at the officers.

An interaction happened between the suspect and the officers, where the officers discharged their firearms and a Taser and the suspect was subsequently apprehended and unharmed."

A witness to some of the commotion told The Spectator he heard three shots fired just after 1 p.m. Then he saw police Taser a man on the street.

There were at least three police officers, they had their guns drawn - two of them with actual handguns, one with a Taser gun," said Brian Bradley, who works for The Spec's sister paper, the Toronto Star.

The man arrested was wearing only shorts and socks, according to Bradley.

Devon was taken to hospital briefly and cleared," according to Callender.

Since nobody was injured by the gunfire or Taser, the province's Special Investigations Unit was not called in.

Forensics officers were still at the scene Saturday morning and officers were canvassing the neighbourhood for witnesses and information.

In 2014, the Ambrose family spoke to The Spectator about Julian's death. They were living in Dundas then, and described themselves as a close family.

An aspiring chef, Julian was killed when his car ran off the road in St. George.

As well as Devon and Julian, Cathy and Peter have a son, Ashton, also a chef, and a daughter, Chelsea.

This is the second homicide in Hamilton this week.

On Monday, police allege there were three random attacks, one left 29-year-old Andrew Ainscow dead and another left a 46-year-old woman with head injuries and a broken arm.

Keith Overholt, 38, is charged with first-degree murder in Ainscow's death.

Susan Clairmont is a Hamilton-based crime, court and social justice columnist at The Spectator. Reach her via email: sclairmont@thespec.com