The final suspect in the stabbing rampage in and around a Canadian reserve is dead from self-inflicted injuries, an official has said. Myles Sanderson, 32, was found near the town of Rosthern as officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle being driven by a man armed with a knife, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.
Officers forced Sanderson’s vehicle off the road and into a ditch, assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commander of the RCMP in Saskatchewan, said at a news conference. He was detained and a knife was found inside the vehicle, she said. She said Mr Sanderson went into medical distress after he was arrested. She said CPR was attempted on him before an ambulance arrived, and emergency medical personnel then took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“All life-saving measures that we are capable of were taken at that time,” she said. Ms Blackmore gave no details on the cause of death. “I can’t speak to the specific manner of death,” she said.
But an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, earlier said Mr Sanderson died of self-inflicted injuries, without giving any further details. Video and photos from the scene showed a white SUV off to the side of the road with police cars all around. Air bags had deployed in the SUV.
Canadian police earlier said they had arrested the suspect. The manhunt for the two brothers had entered its third day. The fugitive’s brother and fellow suspect, Damien Sanderson, 30, was found dead on Monday near the stabbing sites.
Police are investigating if Myles Sanderson killed his brother. The stabbing rampage had raised questions of why Myles Sanderson — an ex-con with 59 convictions and a long history of shocking violence — was out on the streets in the first place.
He was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of over four years on charges that included assault and robbery. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, though the details were not immediately clear.
His long crime sheet also showed that seven years ago, he attacked and stabbed one of the victims killed in the weekend rampage, according to court records. Canadian public safety minister Marco Mendicino said there will be an investigation into the parole board’s assessment of Sanderson.
“I want to know the reasons behind the decision” to release him, Mr Mendicino said. “I’m extremely concerned with what occurred here. A community has been left reeling.”
Investigators have not given a motive for the bloodshed.
The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service said nine of those killed were from the James Smith Cree Nation: Thomas Burns, 23; Carol Burns, 46; Gregory Burns, 28; Lydia Gloria Burns, 61; Bonnie Burns, 48; Earl Burns, 66; Lana Head, 49; Christian Head, 54; and Robert Sanderson, 49. One was from Weldon, 78-year-old Wesley Patterson. Authorities would not say how the victims might be related.
