A Surrey school principal is dead and her husband was injured after what police are calling a home invasion in Burnaby around noon Thursday, just five days after the couple's wedding.

A.H.P. Matthew Elementary School principal Shemina Hirji was killed at her home on Thursday afternoon.

Shemina Hirji, 41, was killed after three men entered her Sierra Ridge townhouse and confronted the couple, police said. 

Her husband, Paul Cheema, called 911 but by the time police arrived the men had fled, said Cpl. Dale Carr of the RCMP's integrated homicide investigation team.

"Shortly after the police arrived here we learned of the suspects fleeing the area," he said. "We called in the police search dog and air services. Unfortunately, we were unable to establish any sort of suspect trail by using those two resources."

One of the men was a tall, white man wearing a brown suit, and another was dark-skinned and wearing a ski mask, police said. There is no description of the third man.

Police on Thursday secure the townhouse complex where Shemina Hirji was killed.

A motive is not yet known and it's not clear whether the couple knew their assailants, police added. They did not release any details about how Hirji was killed. Cheema, who was sent to hospital Thursday, has been released.

The Surrey school district issued a statement Friday morning praising Hirji's work at A.H.P Matthew Elementary School. 

"Shemina is known as an educator absolutely committed to making a difference in the lives of children," school board vice-chair Reni Masi said in a statement. "She was a role model, a strong leader and a key member of the school district family."

School children at A.H.P. Matthew Elementary School in Surrey look at the messages on a memorial for principal Shemina Hirji.

A critical response team is available "to support the staff and community in the many schools that Shemina has impacted during her career as a teacher and administrator," Masi said.

Hirji joined the Surrey school district in 1996 as an elementary teacher, and became an elementary school administrator three years later. She had worked at six elementary schools.

Neighbours are struggling to deal with the events. 

Nadia Van Dijk said she was home at the time of the killing, but it was not until later that it began to sink in.

"Well, I was kind of in shock at first and it didn't really hit me," she said. "But I came back home late last night. It was really weird walking down to my home thinking somebody just died here." 

With files from the Canadian Press