Canadian police said one of the suspects in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in Saskatchewan has been found dead. Damien Sanderson, 31, was found in a grassy area on the James Smith Cree Nation and the cause of death was not immediately clear. He had visible injuries that are not believed to be self inflicted at this point, said police on Monday.
Myles, 30, remains on the run and likely in the provincial capital of Regina. He “may have sustained injuries” and could be seeking medical attention, said police. Police still consider Myles Sanderson a danger to the public, even if injured. Myles has a “lengthy criminal record involving both persons and property crimes”, said Rhonda Blackmore from the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted police.
Asked if Myles was suspected of also killing his brother, Blackmore said: “It is an investigative avenue that we are following up on but we can’t say that definitively.”
Damien and his brother, Myles Sanderson, had earlier been charged with first degree murder.
Ten people were killed and 18 wounded in a series of attacks on Sunday that devastated an Indigenous community in Saskatchewan, in a country unaccustomed to outbreaks of mass violence.
The attacks were among the deadliest in Canada’s modern history. Police said some of the victims appeared to have been targeted, while others were apparently random.
The victims included a mother of two, a 77-year-old widower and a first responder. Ivor Wayne Burns of James Smith Cree Nation said three of the victims - his sister Gloria Lydia Burns, a woman and a 14-year-old boy - died at a single location.
Prime minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks “shocking and heartbreaking” and said he had spoken to the leadership of the James Smith Cree Nation and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe to pledge his government’s support. “The federal government will be there with the resources necessary right now in this time of crisis but also we’ll continue to work as partners in the weeks, months and years to come through grieving and healing,” Trudeau said at the Ottawa airport.
