Two men allegedly went on a stabbing spree that was one of the bloodiest acts of violence to ever occur in Canada, according to police in the west.
What is known about the Sunday attacks can be summed up as follows:
At least 10 people were killed and 18 others were hurt in the early-Sunday stabbing spree that took place at 13 different sites in the isolated Indigenous settlement of James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby town of Weldon in Canada’s Saskatchewan state.
Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, were named as the suspects by the police. On the grounds of the community, next to a residence that officials have been investigating, the latter’s body was discovered on Monday.
According to federal police Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, the body exhibited “visible injuries” that were not self-inflicted.
Myles Sanderson continued to flee.
He was sought after, according to the provincial Crime Stoppers website, for violating parole. He disappeared in May, according to public broadcaster CBC, after serving a portion of a five-year term for assault and robbery.
Police have said it is too early to speak to a motive, while adding that “some of the victims may have been targeted and some may be random.”
“That’s still part of the investigation,” Blackmore said of the issue of motive. “That will be ongoing for quite some time. We haven’t established a motive at this point in time.”
Native American chiefs suggested a potential drug connection.
“This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities,” the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said.
The victims have not yet been named by police, although the majority are James Smith Cree people.
Many neighborhood members honored loved ones who died in the stabbing spree on social media.
One of them was 49-year-old Lana Head, whose kids were 31 and 30.
According to Canadian press accounts, Gloria Burns, an emergency medical technician, died after taking a call. Her partner and a 14-year-old were also killed, according to her parents Ivor and Darryl Burns.
Another Weldon resident reported the death of Wes Petterson, 77, who lived with his adult grandson, to a Saskatoon newspaper.
The two suspects are the subject of arrest warrants from the police, who have accused them of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and breaking and entering. Additional charges are anticipated.
Following reports of sightings of the suspects in the provincial capital, Regina police chief Evan Bray said on Monday that his department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had conducted a “relentless” search throughout the night.
Numerous police officers from adjacent provinces as well as those from Manitoba and Alberta, according to an RCMP spokeswoman, are participating in the search throughout a vast area.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attacks as surprising and tragic in a video speech.
“This kind of violence has no place in our country,” he said. “Sadly, over these past years, tragedies like these have become all too commonplace.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, among others, and leaders of the European Union all condemned the attack and expressed their condolences.
People who were near the scene reported being severely traumatized.
“This is terrible, terrible,” Weldon resident Diane Shier told the daily Saskatoon Star Phoenix. “We’ve still got our doors locked, staying inside.”
In recent years, a shooter disguising himself as a police officer in Nova Scotia killed 22, a mosque in Quebec saw six people slaughtered, and a van driver in Toronto killed 10 people.
GOGAN Media.