At least 10 people have died and 15 others are in hospital after a series of stabbing attacks in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, police said Sunday. Two suspects were still at large as of Sunday evening, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
The stabbings occurred at 13 different sites on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon, police said.
RCMP said they were looking for Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, in connection with the stabbings. Damien Sanderson was described as 5’7″ and weighing approximately 155 pounds. Police said Myles Sanderson was 6’1″ and weighed around 200 pounds. Police believe he may be driving a black Nissan Rogue.
Two men suspected in a series of stabbing attacks in Saskatchewan’s Candian province. Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Saskatchewan RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said some of the victims appear to have been targeted by the suspects, but others appear to have been targeted at random. She could not provide a reason.
“It’s horrible what happened in our province today,” Blackmore said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. My thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one and those who were injured.”
Blackmore said police began receiving reports before 6 a.m. of stabbings in the First Nations community. More reports of attacks quickly followed, and by noon police issued an alert that a vehicle carrying the two suspects had reportedly been spotted in Regina.
Police said the last information they had from the public was that the suspects were seen there around lunchtime. Since then there have been no observations.
Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said later Sunday night that the suspects were still at large and that police “still believe the suspects are likely in the city of Regina.”
“If you are in the Regina area, please take precautions and consider staying in place. Do not leave a safe place. DO NOT approach suspicious persons. Do not pick up hitchhikers. Report suspicious persons, emergencies or information to 9-1-1. Not releasing police locations,” the RCMP said in a message on Twitter.
Weldon resident Diane Shier said she was in her yard Sunday morning when she noticed emergency crews a couple of blocks away.
Shier said his neighbor, a man who lived with his grandson, was killed. He did not want to identify the victim out of respect for his family.
“I’m very upset because I’ve lost a good neighbor,” he said.
The search for suspects took place as fans descended on Regina for an annual Labor Day game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
A statement from the Saskatchewan Roughriders regarding game day security. pic.twitter.com/JydhFxK7uw
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) September 4, 2022
The Regina Police Service said in a news release that, with the help of Mounties, it was working on multiple fronts to locate and arrest the suspects and had “deployed additional public safety resources across the city, including the soccer game at Mosaic Stadium.”
The alert first issued by RCMP in Melfort, Saskatchewan around 7 a.m. was expanded hours later to cover Manitoba and Alberta as the two suspects remained at large.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority said multiple patients were being treated at multiple locations.
“Additional personnel were called in to respond to the influx of victims,” authority spokeswoman Anne Linemann said in an email.
Mark Oddan, spokesman for STARS Air Ambulance, said two helicopters were dispatched from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and another from Regina.
He said two brought patients to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, while the third brought a patient to Royal University from a hospital in Melfort, a short distance southeast of Weldon.
Oddan said that due to privacy laws, he could not disclose information about their ages, genders or conditions.
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