Engaged couple shot dead in landlord-tenant row days away from moving out

The families of two tenants allegedly shot dead by their landlord over the weekend say the engaged couple were just days away from moving out of their Stoney Creek apartment and into a new home.
    
A statement released by Hamilton police on behalf of the families of 27-year-old Carissa MacDonald and 28-year-old Aaron Stone says the pair took pride in their home, always paid their bills on time and were planning on getting married this summer.
    
Police allege their 57-year-old landlord, who lived in a unit above the couple, killed them outside the home they shared then barricaded himself inside. Ontario's police watchdog says the landlord was later shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with officers.
    
They have said Stone was an electrician and MacDonald was an educational assistant, and their families' statement says they were responsible, law-abiding citizens.
    
They say what happened to the couple was an act of ``unnecessary violence.''
   
 Hamilton police say the scene at 322 Jones Road in Hamilton's east-end has been cleared and detectives continue to interview witnesses, neighbours and 911 callers, as well as investigating the backgrounds of those who died.