A car is parked outside a home on Tiger Maple Drive in Timberlea, Nova Scotia, a Halifax suburb, where police found a deceased person last Friday. Photo: AP/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan

Canadian police foiled a Valentine’s Day plot by two suspects who were planning to go to a shopping centre and kill as many people as they could before committing suicide, a senior police official said.

The official told the Associated Press that police acted quickly after receiving information about the intended attack in Halifax from the public on the Crime Stoppers tip line.

A 19-year-old male suspect shot himself dead after police surrounded his home, the official said.

A 23-year-old woman, from Geneva, Illinois, US, was arrested at Halifax airport and confessed to the plot, the official said, adding that she had prepared a number of pronouncements to be tweeted after her death.

The official said the suspects used a chat stream and were apparently obsessed with death and had many photos of mass killings. Police and other officials said the plot was not related to Islamic terrorism.

Police said the suspects had access to firearms, but did not elaborate.

At the home of the male suspect, police saw two people leave the house who they determined were his parents and pulled them over on a traffic check. They then called the suspect.

The man told police that he did not have any guns, but shot himself as he was on his way out of the house, the official said.

Had they been able to carry out their intentions, the possibility for a large loss of life was definitely there

The official said police worked with Canadian border officials to find the female suspect on her flight as she was making her way from Chicago.

Police said that they first received information a day earlier about a potentially significant weapons-related threat.

Officers said two other Nova Scotia men, aged 20 and 17, were also involved, although investigators are still trying to determine what their roles were. The police official said the 17-year-old male was wanted for threatening a gun attack at a high school and had an outstanding warrant.

“Had they been able to carry out their intentions, the possibility for a large loss of life was definitely there,” Brian Brennan, Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer, said.

“We believe we have apprehended all known individuals in this matter and have eliminated the threat. We are not seeking any further suspects at this time in relation to this investigation.”

Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney applauded the work of police in Canada and Geneva, Illinois, and well as border officials in a statement. The Geneva police department said in a statement that it was contacted by Canadian police and had no contact with the American woman before her arrest.