10 killed, 15 injured in stabbings in Canada’s Saskatchewan; police searching for 2 suspects

OTTAWA – Canadian police hunted for two suspects in a stabbing spree that killed 10 people and wounded at least 15 others mostly in a sparsely populated indigenous community early Sunday.

The stabbings across 13 crime scenes were among the deadliest mass killings in modern Canadian history and certain to reverberate throughout the country, which is unaccustomed to bouts of mass violence more commonly seen in the United States.

“The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. I’m thinking of those who have lost a loved one and of those who were injured,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a message posted on Twitter.

Police named the two suspects as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, providing photos and descriptions but no further details about their motive or the victims.

The two were seen travelling in a black Nissan Rogue and spotted in the city of Regina, about 320km south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon, police said.

“It appears that some of the victims may have been targeted, and some may be random. So to speak of a motive would be extremely difficult at this point in time,” Asst Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told a news conference.

There may be additional injured victims who transported themselves to various hospitals, police said.

James Smith Cree Nation is indigenous community with a population of about 3,400 people largely engaged in farming, hunting and fishing. Weldon is a village of some 200 people.

The nation’s elected elders declared a state of emergency“ in response to the numerous murders and assaults on members of the James Smith Cree Nation”, and established two emergency operations centres, the nation said in a statement.

The stabbings were reported early in the morning, and by 8.20am local time (1420 GMT) police issued a province-wide dangerous persons alert. By the afternoon, similar alerts were also issued in Saskatchewan’s neighbouring provinces Alberta and Manitoba.

Police bulletins urged people to report any suspicious people and to take precautions including sheltering in place, while warning against picking up hitchhikers or approaching suspicious people.

“Do not leave a secure location. Use caution allowing others into your residence,” one advisory said.

A police alert issued shortly after midday said they may be in Regina, one of the province’s largest cities, where a large police presence was already mobilised because of a Canadian football game at Mosaic Stadium near the centre of town.

However, Asst Commissioner Blackmore said it was unknown where the suspects might be headed or if they had changed vehicles.

“It is horrific what has occurred in our province today,” Asst Commissioner Blackmore said, calling the attacks one of the largest if not the largest in recent history in the province.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority activated an emergency response bringing in additional staff to tend to victims, later declaring it over as “the risk of a high influx of patient transfers due to this situation is no longer prominent”.

“We can confirm that multiple people have been triaged and cared for at multiple sites and that a call for additional staff to help respond to this situation has occurred,” the health authority said in a statement. REUTERS