Note: the information here is what was known on the first day of the mass stabbing in Canada. Here’s what we know on day two of the Saskatchewan stabbings.
Ten people were killed and at least 15 wounded in a spate of stabbings in 13 locations across an Indigenous community and a nearby village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Sunday.
Police first began receiving reports of stabbings around 5.40am on Sunday in the James Smith Cree Nation community. Reports of additional attacks quickly followed in the nearby village of Weldon, north-east of Saskatoon. Both communities are sparsely populated with 3,400 and 200 people respectively.
At least 15 people were taken to hospital although “there may be additional injured victims who transported themselves to various hospitals”, Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted police, said. Mark Oddan, a spokesperson with Stars air ambulance, said two helicopters were sent from Saskatoon, and another from Regina.
Some of the victims appear to have been targeted but others appear to have been attacked at random, Blackmore said. She did not provide a motive.
Police identified the suspects as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30 and asked them to turn themselves in. Both are said to have black hair and brown eyes, though the relationship between them is unclear. The pair were last sighted driving a black Nissan Rogue with licence plate 119 MPI in Saskatchewan’s capital of Regina, about 200 miles (320km) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon.
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described the attacks as “horrific and heartbreaking” in a statement of support to the families of those killed. “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,” he said in a tweet.
One witness said she believed one of the suspects approached her and her daughter claiming he was hurt. Doreen Lees, 89, said she and her daughter thought they saw one of the suspects when a car came barreling down her street in Weldon early in the morning. Lees said a man approached them and said he was hurt and needed help but took off when her daughter said she would call for help. “He wouldn’t show his face. He had a big jacket over his face. We asked his name and he kind of mumbled his name twice and we still couldn’t get it,” she told the Associated Press. “He said his face was injured so bad he couldn’t show it.” She said the man was by himself and “kind of a little wobbly.”
Saskatchewan’s premier, Scott Moe, also issued a statement, describing the attacks as “senseless violence”. “There are no words to adequately describe the pain and loss caused by this senseless violence. All of Saskatchewan grieves with the victims and their families,” he said.
Residents of James Smith Cree Nation chronicled the events on social media. One woman posted an image of a broken door handle, adding that she was glad her younger sister wasn’t home when it was broken into. “This is forever gonna traumatize me,” she wrote. Others – including a young woman who had seen her grandfather the night before, only to learn he was a victim in the attacks – posted tributes to killed family members.
