Ontario nurse charged in deaths of 8 nursing home residents

A woman walks into the Caressant Care facility in Woodstock, Ontario, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Police in southwestern Ontario say between 2007 and 2014, a nurse administered a drug and killed eight residents in her car at the nursing home. (Dave Chidley/The Canadian Press via AP) (The Associated Press)

From left, Ontario Provincial Police Detective-Superintendent Dave Truax, Woodstock Police Chief William Renton and William Merrylees of the London Police give a news conference in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, to announce that nurse Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, 49, has been charged with the murders of eight elderly people at nursing homes in southwestern Ontario over a seven-year period. (Dave Chidley/The Canadian Press via AP) (The Associated Press)

Woodstock Police Chief William Renton looks down during a news conference in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, as police announced nurse Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, 49, has been charged with the murders of eight elderly people at nursing homes in southwestern Ontario over a seven-year period. (Dave Chidley/The Canadian Press via AP) (The Associated Press)

Police say a nurse has been charged with the murders of eight elderly people at nursing homes in southwestern Ontario over seven years.

Woodstock Police Chief William Renton said Tuesday that 49-year-old Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer was charged with first-degree murder in the killings that took place between 2007 and 2014.

Renton says the victims ranged in age from 75 to 96.

Police say the victims were administered a drug, but declined to identify which one.

Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes, a private nursing home chain, has said one of its former employees is the focus of the investigation.

Caressant, which operates 15 Ontario facilities located mostly in small towns, says the former employee is a registered nurse who left the company 2 1/2 years ago.