Canadian Stabbing Suspect Found Dead After 10 Killed; Brother At Large

September 5, 2022 9:45 pm

One of the two men suspected of a stabbing rampage in Canada that killed at least 10 people and injured 18 was found dead Monday, police said. The attack is among the deadliest recent cases of mass violence in a country that seldom experiences massacres.

Authorities confirmed Monday afternoon that the body of Damien Sanderson, 31, had been found about 1 p.m. during a search of the James Smith Cree Nation.

The second suspect, his brother Myles Sanderson, remained at large Monday afternoon, more than 24 hours after the authorities received reports of people being stabbed at the Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon.

It was not clear who may have injured Damian Sanderson, police said, but the fatal wounds did not appear to be self-inflicted.

Myles Sanderson, 30, whom police described as armed and dangerous Monday afternoon, may be in Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital. At a news conference Monday afternoon, police said they have reason to believe he is injured and may seek medical help.

Police are investigating the reasons they may have attacked 28 people in at least 13 locations.

Myles Sanderson was charged earlier Monday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Damien Sanderson was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Both were charged with breaking and entering, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said more charges are likely.

In a short address from Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks “shocking and heartbreaking.”

“This kind of violence or any kind of violence has no place in our country,” he said.

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, Trudeau said, and he asked residents to call 911 if they have any information about the suspects.

“Saskatchewanians and Canadians will do what we always do in times of difficulty and anguish: We’ll be there for each other,” he added.

Rhonda Blackmore, assistant commissioner of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said in a statement Monday that hundreds of police staffers were involved in the effort to find and arrest whoever is “responsible for this tragedy and to ensure your safety.”

As of Monday afternoon, authorities were asking for the public’s assistance in locating the remaining suspect.

“To those of you who have lost a loved one, our hearts ache and break for you,” Blackmore said in a video earlier in the day. “I hope that you can find some comfort in the days ahead as you deal with your grief.”

By Monday afternoon, authorities had yet to release the names of those killed, though they said details would be announced later. They were all adults, Blackmore said in the news conference.

James Smith Cree Nation members posted on social media and told The Washington Post that the community’s leadership asked them not to speak to the news media.

The investigation began about 5:40 a.m. local time Sunday, when police received reports of people being stabbed at the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon. Authorities then sent a dangerous-persons alert at about 7:12 a.m., urging people in the area to seek shelter and warning that the two men were “armed and dangerous.” The alert was later expanded to the provinces of Manitoba and Alberta.

In May, Myles Sanderson was listed as “unlawfully at large” by Saskatchewan CrimeStoppers – a community initiative designed to enlist public help to solve crimes and missing person cases – but without any detail about what he’d been accused of.

According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Myles Sanderson had served a nearly five-year prison sentence for assault, robbery and mischief. He was paroled, then disappeared in May. Authorities have searched for him since.

The attacks have stunned leaders in Canada, where incidents of mass violence are relatively uncommon. In his Monday address, Trudeau said all flags at federal buildings have been lowered to half-staff.

In a Twitter thread Sunday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe thanked police for their efforts and acknowledged “the pain and loss caused by this senseless violence.”

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, offered condolences to the families of the victims in a statement Sunday.

“The FSIN Executive sends our deepest condolences and offers a message of solidarity with the people of James Smith Cree Nation after the unspeakable violence that claimed the lives of innocent people. Our hearts break for all those impacted,” the statement said.

While Indigenous people account for about 5% of Canada’s population, they are overrepresented among victims of violence in the country, according to official data. From 2015 to 2020, the rate of homicides involving an Indigenous victim was six times higher than the rate of homicides involving non-Indigenous victims.

As authorities searched, questions remained unanswered about the motivations for the assaults.

Blackmore, of the RCMP, said Sunday evening that it appeared that some of the victims at 13 crime scenes “may have been targeted, and some may be random.”

“So to speak to a motive would be extremely difficult at this time,” she said at a Sunday news conference. On Monday, she said it was still unclear what sparked the attack.

The rampage is one of the deadliest attacks in Canada since a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 that left 22 dead. That killing sparked a national investigation into how the gunman evaded police for more than 12 hours as he continued his rampage across the province.