Conception Bay South  Conception Bay South is a town located on the southern shore of Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is commonly called C.B.S. The town is located on the southern shore of Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland. It is approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of the provincial capital of St. John's. As such, the town is part of the St. John's Metropolitan Area and most residents are employed in the nearby cities of St. John's or Mount Pearl. The town lies on a zone of Cambrian bedrock, primarily shale containing limestone concretions and manganese ores. Conception Bay South was formed in 1973 through the amalgamation of nine communities (Topsail, Chamberlains, Manuels, Long Pond, Foxtrap, Kelligrews, Upper Gullies, Lawrence Pond and Seal Cove) all of which follow the coastline of Conception Bay. The early residents, mainly English but some Irish, were attracted by good growing land, abundant supplies of firewood and the more temperate climate as compared to other parts of the Avalon Peninsula. Good communication with St. John's was established by road in the 1830s and strengthened in the 1880s with the arrival of the railway. Residents of Conception Bay South grew crops and raised cattle for the St. John's market and St. John's residents established summer homes in Conception Bay South. In August 2003 the town was the location for the murder of Zachary Turner at the hands of his mother Shirley Jane Turner. Turner drugged the infant and jumped into the Atlantic Ocean. She had controversially been bailed and awarded custody of the infant even though she was in the process of being extradited to the United States to stand trial for the murder of Zachary's father. The events became the basis for the 2008 documentary "'. In 2013, there was a shooting near Villanova Plaza, a collection of stores in Conception Bay South. A man with body armor murdered 2 persons with an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle and committed suicide not long after. This incident occurred near the Conception Bay South Topsail soccer field, where a stabbing took place less than a year after. As of 2016 the population was 26,199 which makes the town the second largest population centre in the province behind the city of St. John's. The community corresponds largely, but not exactly, to the boundaries of the electoral district of the same name.