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OTTAWA, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Canadian police converged on the James Smith Cree Nation on Tuesday, drawn to the area by possible sightings of the man wanted in a string of stabbings that killed 10 people, but the suspect remained at large on the third day of an intense manhunt.
CBC News reported a heavy police presence on Saskatchewan’s indigenous reserve, about 320 km (200 miles) north of the provincial capital of Regina, where Sunday’s bloodshed shocked a country unaccustomed to deadly attacks of mass violence.
Hours later, however, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said their “investigation has determined” that the suspect, 30-year-old Myles Sanderson, is “not in the community” on the reserve and that authorities were following looking for it
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Sanderson remained at large and possibly injured, police said after investigators found his accused accomplice and older brother, Damien Sanderson, 31, dead in a grassy area of the James Smith Cree Nation on Monday.
The pair are suspected of killing 10 people and wounding 18 others in a stabbing on the James Smith Cree reserve and the nearby village of Weldon, provoking an indigenous community of 3,400 people into one of the deadliest attacks in modern Canadian history. Read more
Among the surviving victims, 10 remained hospitalized as of Tuesday afternoon, with seven in stable condition and three in critical condition, health officials said.
Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said Monday afternoon that the search for Sanderson was focused on that city, but in a videotaped Twitter update released Tuesday he said the manhunt had “expanded in the province”.
Management appeared to return to the vicinity of the crime scene early Tuesday as Saskatchewan RCMP issued an emergency alert saying officers were responding to reports of a “possible sighting” of the suspect on the James Smith Cree Reserve.
The alert, which initially warned local residents to shelter in place as a precaution, was updated three hours later to say that Sanderson had not been found, that his whereabouts remained unknown and that the public should ” take appropriate precautions.”
UNCLEAR REASONS
Authorities did not offer a possible motive for the attacks. Police said some victims appeared to have been attacked, while others appeared to be random. (Graph: https://tmsnrt.rs/3cKaBP0)
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers on the James Smith Cree Nation speak after several people were killed and injured in a stabbing on the reserve and in the nearby town of Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada on September 5 2022. REUTERS/David Stobbe/File Photo
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Some First Nations leaders have linked the killings to drug use, but police have not cited drugs or alcohol as factors.
The stabbings caused “immeasurable stress and panic” in the community, leaders of a group of 74 Saskatchewan First Nations said in a statement Monday, urging the public to come forward with any relevant information.
James Smith Cree resident Ivor Wayne Burns said the Sanderson brothers belonged to First Nations communities and were under the influence of drugs at the time of the crimes.
Myles Sanderson was considered armed and dangerous, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said.
Sanderson has been wanted as a fugitive since May, when he stopped meeting with his parole officer after being released from prison for assault, robbery and other crimes, CBC News reported.
The CBC, citing documents from the Parole Board of Canada, reported that Sanderson had a criminal record of 59 convictions spanning two decades.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters Tuesday evening that the parole board will “undertake an investigation into the decision” to release Sanderson on parole.
Asked at a news conference Tuesday about reports that Sanderson had been illegally at large for several months, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters, “We’re still in a crisis situation.”
“For the past two days, we’ve been focused on doing everything we can to keep people safe,” he added.
Police said they were investigating whether Sanderson may have also killed his brother and suffered injuries that could have caused him to seek medical attention.
Few details were available about the victims, who included men and women of a wide age range. Local people said the victims included a mother of two, a 77-year-old widower and a rescue worker. Read more
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Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Steve Scherer in Vancouver; Written by Doina Chiacu and Steve Gorman; Editing by Chris Reese and Christopher Cushing
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