Monday, the search for two men suspected of stabbing ten people to death in an Indigenous settlement and a nearby town resumed in Canada. A vehicle transporting the two suspects was apparently spotted more than 200 miles away from the crime scene, according to the police.
In the spate of knife attacks that prompted the James Smith Cree Nation to declare a state of emergency and scared residents of the neighbouring community of Weldon, the men are also suspected of hurting 15 persons.
“No one in this city will ever sleep again. They’re going to be frightened to open their door,” said Weldon resident Ruby Works, who was close to one of the victims.
Meanwhile, police claimed that a vehicle believed to be transporting the two suspects was sighted around 310 miles south of the areas where the stabbings occurred. Previously, police speculated that they may be driving a black Nissan Rogue.
Police chief Evan Bray stated that the suspects are believed to be in Regina, the provincial capital.
The accused were identified as 31-year-old Damien Sanderson and 30-year-old Myles Sanderson. Police wouldn’t confirm if the two are related and supplied scant facts about them.
Damien Sanderson, left, and Myles Sanderson. Sunday, September 4, 2022, authorities named the couple as suspects in a series of stabbings in two Saskatchewan communities that left many people dead and others wounded. Royal Canadian Mounted Police via the Associated Press
Rhonda Blackmore, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan, stated, “It is horrifying what has occurred in our province,” adding that there were 13 locations where killed or injured people were discovered.
Damien Sanderson was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and approximately 155 pounds in weight. According to the police, Myles Sanderson is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds.
Some of the victims appear to have been targeted by the perpetrators, while others appear to have been attacked at random, according to Blackmore.
She was unable to identify a motive, but the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations suggested that the stabbings were drug-related in a statement.
The elected leaders of the three James Smith Cree Nation communities, including the Chakastaypasin Band and the Peter Chapman Band, declared a local state of emergency and opened two emergency operations centers.
Chakastaypasin Chief Calvin Sanderson, who is presumably unrelated to the accused, stated that the tragic events had devastated everyone.
Sanderson stated that the victims were his relatives and friends. It is quite horrifying.
Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations stated, “This is the devastation we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities, and we demand that all authorities take direction from the chiefs and councils and their membership to create safer and healthier communities for our people.”
A police forensics team analyzes a crime scene after numerous individuals were killed and injured in a stabbing spree in Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada. September 4, 2022. DAVID STOBBE / REUTERS
Lana Head, the ex-partner of Michael Brett Burns and the mother of their two girls, was among the 10 victims killed.
Burns told the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, “It’s disgusting how incarceration, drugs, and alcohol can wreck so many lives.” I am saddened by all these losses.
In May of last year, Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers produced a list of wanted individuals that included Myles Sanderson, stating that he was “at large.”
The attack is one of the most deadly mass murders in Canadian history. In 2020, the deadliest gun rampage in American history occurred when a guy posing as a police officer shot 22 people in their houses and set fires across the province of Nova Scotia. In 2019, a man used a van to kill ten people in Toronto. However, mass murders are rarer in Canada than in the United States.
Globally, mass stabbings are more uncommon than mass shootings, but they have occurred. In 2014, 29 individuals were fatally slashed and stabbed at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming. In 2016, 19 individuals were fatally stabbed at a center for the mentally handicapped in Sagamihara, Japan. A year later, three men slaughtered eight individuals with a vehicle and knives on London Bridge.
Doreen Lees, an 89-year-old grandmother from Weldon, and her daughter believed they saw one of the suspects when a car sped through their block early Sunday morning as their daughter was drinking coffee on the terrace. According to Lees, a man approached them and stated he was hurt and needed assistance.
But, according to Lees, the man fled after her daughter indicated she would phone for help.
“He refused to reveal his face. A large jacket covered his face. “When we asked him his name, he muttered it twice and we still couldn’t get it,” she claimed. He stated that his face was so badly wounded that he could not reveal it.
She stated that the man was alone and “sort of shaky.”
“I followed him a short distance to ensure his safety. My daughter shouted, ‘Don’t pursue him, get back here.’”
Wes Petterson has been identified by Weldon residents as one of the victims. Ruby Works described the 77-year-old widower as her uncle.
“I fell and landed on the ground. She stated, “I’ve known him since I was a young girl,” when describing the moment she got the news. She stated that he enjoyed his cats, was proud of his homemade Saskatoon berry jam, and assisted his neighbors frequently.
“He did nothing wrong. He did not merit this. Works stated that he was a good, kind-hearted individual.
Robert Rush, a resident of Weldon, similarly characterized the victim as a kind, widowed man in his seventies.
He stated, “He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Rush said that Petterson’s adult grandson was in the basement and called the police.
At the beginning of the normal Sunday service at the Weldon Christian Tabernacle Church, the congregation offered a special prayer for the victims and their families.
At the James Smith Cree Nation, a convenience store that also serves as a petrol station became a gathering spot for community members who welcomed one other with tears and hugs.
A sign on the door read, “Due to community safety concerns, we will be closed till further notice.”
The search for suspects was carried out as fans descended on Regina for a sold-out annual Labor Day game between the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ comment on game day security. pic.twitter.com/JydhFxK7uw
4 September 2022 — Saskatchewan Roughriders (@skroughriders)
The Regina Police Service stated in a press release that, with the assistance of the Mounties, it was working on many fronts to locate and apprehend the individuals and had “deployed additional personnel for public safety around the city, including the football game at Mosaic Stadium.”
On Sunday, at 5:40 a.m., the police began receiving reports of stabbings. As the two suspects remained at large, the RCMP in Melfort, Saskatchewan, extended the notice to Manitoba and Alberta several hours later.
According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, many individuals are being treated at multiple locations.
Anne Linemann, a spokesperson for the authority, said in an email, “A call for more staff was made to respond to the surge of injuries.”
In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “shocked and heartbroken by the heinous attacks.”
Trudeau stated, “As Canadians, we mourn with all those affected by this horrific violence and with the people of Saskatchewan.”
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