James Smith Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, Sept 6 (BUS): Canadian police have found one suspect in a mass stabbing attack dead while his other brother, who is his brother, is still on the run and may be injured, officials said.
Brothers Damien and Miles Sanderson are suspected of killing 10 people and wounding 18 in a stabbing attack that devastated an indigenous community in Saskatchewan on Sunday, in a country unusual for outbreaks of mass violence.
The attacks were among the deadliest in recent Canadian history.
Among the victims were a mother of two, a 77-year-old widow, and a first responder.
In a manhunt involving hundreds of police officers, Damian Sanderson, 31, was found dead in a grassy area of the James Smith Cree Nation, possibly murdered by his brother, who was previously wanted for violent crimes.
Rhonda Blackmore, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in Saskatchewan, said at a news conference that brother Miles Sanderson, 30, who is still at large, “may have been injured” and could seek medical attention.
With the death of Sanderson’s brother and the injury of the other, the death toll now stands at 11 dead and 19 injured, Blackmore said.
“We can confirm that he has obvious injuries. He doesn’t think these injuries were of his own making at this point,” Blackmore said, without specifying the cause of the injuries.
Asked if Miles Sanderson had killed his brother, Blackmore said: “It’s an investigation method we’re pursuing but we can’t say that definitively.”
She also warned that police still considered Miles Sanderson a danger to the public, even if he was injured.
Blackmore said: “Miles has a long criminal record that includes person and property offenses… We consider him armed and dangerous. Don’t go near him.”
CBC News reported that police in the city of Saskatchewan have been searching for Miles Sanderson since May, when he stopped seeing a parole officer after serving a sentence for assault, robbery, victimization and threats.
Drugs and alcohol blame
Three of the victims – his sister Gloria Lydia Burns, a woman and a 14-year-old boy – died in one place, Ivor Wayne Burns of the James Smith Cree Nation said.
But police said at a news conference on Monday that the youngest victim was born in 1999.
Gloria Burns, a member of the community’s crisis response team, was killed when she attended an emergency call.
“This tragedy that has occurred here on our land, it’s all because of drugs and alcohol,” Burns said, adding that drug involvement in the killings was discussed at a community meeting on Monday.
“The drug problem we have here is pervasive,” Burns said. “It’s spiraling out of control.”
His comments echoed those of President Bobby Cameron on Sunday from the Sovereign Indigenous Peoples Federation, which has linked the killings to drugs.
Although the police did not identify drugs or alcohol as a factor, Burns said the men responsible for the murders were gang members and were prevalent at the time the crimes were committed. Scope is a term used to refer to some First Nations communities in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attacks as “shocking and heartbreaking” and said he had spoken with the leadership of the James Smith Cree Nation and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to pledge support for his government.
“The federal government will be there with the resources needed now in this time of crisis, but we will also continue to work as partners in the coming weeks, months and years through grieving and healing,” Trudeau said at Ottawa Airport. Before traveling to Vancouver for a Liberal Ministers meeting.
In an unrelated incident that further rattled the province, police in Saskatchewan on Monday said they were investigating reports of shootings at the Wichkan Lake Nation and warned the public that several armed suspects were at large.