Canadian police search for two suspects after 10 people killed – as it happened (2024)

We are pausing our live coverage. Here is where things stand at midnight in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan:

• 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,” he said in a tweet. Trudeau later vowed that those responsible for today’s “abhorrent attacks” must be “fully brought to justice”. Trudeau said the government of Canada has been “in direct communication” with the James Smith Cree Nation community leadership and is “ready to assist in any way we can”.

• The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, released a statement offering its “deepest condolences” and “solidarity” after the attacks. “Our hearts break for all those impacted. This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities,” chief Bobby Cameron of the FSIN said in the statement.

• Chakastaypasin chief, Calvin Sanderson, one of the elected leaders of the three communities that make up the James Smith Cree Nation, spoke of the impact the attacks have had on the close-knit community. “Everyone’s been affected … They were our relatives, friends. Mostly we’re all related here, so it’s pretty hard … It’s pretty horrific,” he told the Associated Press.

• Three victims have been identified, according to friends and family members who spoke with local media. Wes Petterson, a 77-year-old widower who frequently helped out his neighbours, was reportedly killed. “He didn’t do anything. He didn’t deserve this. He was a good, kind hearted man,” Weldon resident Ruby Works told the Associated Press. Lana Head, a mother of two, and her partner were also reportedly killed. Head’s former partner Michael Brett Burns told APTN News that Head and her current male partner died of their wounds.

The spate of stabbings across Saskatchewan on Sunday is among the deadliest mass killings in Canadian history.

In 2020, a man disguised as a police officer shot people in their homes and set fires across the province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people. The attack became the deadliest gun rampage in Canadian history. In 2019, a man used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto.

Attacks of such a nature are less common in Canada than in the United States and deadly mass stabbings are more rare than mass shootings.

Two more victims have been identified as mother-of-two Lana Head and her partner.

Head’s former partner Michael Brett Burns spoke with local media earlier on Sunday, allegedly confirming the news.

Burns told APTN News that Head and her current male partner died of their wounds on the James Smith Cree Nation on Sunday.

Burns described the community as being in mourning, adding that he spent Sunday evening at Melfort Hospital comforting many family members.

Flags at the Saskatchewan legislative building and other provincial government buildings have been lowered and will remain at half-mast one day for each life lost, journalist Mickey Djuric with the Canadian Press reports.

A Sunday service was held at the Christian Tabernacle Church in Weldon just “blocks away” from where one of the stabbing attacks took place.

The congregation began with a prayer for the victims and their families, Djuric said.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, has just released a statement offering its “deepest condolences” and “solidarity” after the attacks.

“Our hearts break for all those impacted. This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities,” chief Bobby Cameron of the FSIN said in the statement.

Chakastaypasin chief, Calvin Sanderson, one of the elected leaders of the three communities that make up the James Smith Cree Nation, has spoken of the impact the attacks have had on the close-knit community.

Sanderson said he’d left his phone off on Sunday morning and only learned of the tragic events when community members came to his door to check on him. Speaking to the Associated Press, he said:

Everyone’s been affected … They were our relatives, friends. Mostly we’re all related here, so it’s pretty hard … It’s pretty horrific.”

Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has vowed that those responsible for today’s “abhorrent attacks” must be “fully brought to justice”.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, Trudeau said:

I am shocked and devastated by the horrific attacks today in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan, that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured many more.”

As this is an unfolding situation, I encourage everyone in the area to listen to the advice of law enforcement to take shelter and follow the proper precautions.

Trudeau said the Government of Canada has been “in direct communication” with the James Smith Cree Nation community leadership and is “ready to assist in any way we can”.

Those responsible for today’s abhorrent attacks must be fully brought to justice.”

Weldon residents have identified one of the victims in the attacks as Wes Petterson.

Ruby Works said the 77-year-old widower was like an uncle to her. Speaking to the Associated Press, she said:

He didn’t do anything. He didn’t deserve this. He was a good, kind hearted man.

I collapsed and hit the ground. I’ve known him since I was just a little girl,” she said, describing the moment she heard the news.

Works said he loved his cats, was proud of his homemade Saskatoon berry jam and frequently helped out his neighbours.

She said the event has shaken a community where the sounds of sirens are rarely heard.

No one in this town is ever going to sleep again. They’re going to be terrified to open their door, she said

Weldon resident Robert Rush also described the victim as a gentle, widowed man in his 70s.

He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” he said.

Rush said Petterson’s adult grandson was in the basem*nt at the time and phoned police.

As nightfall descends on the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, here is where things stand:

• Ten people were killed and 15 wounded during a spate of stabbings in 13 locations in two sparsely populated indigenous communities in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Sunday.

• Police first begin receiving reports of stabbings around 5.40am on the James Smith Cree Nation. More 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 RCMP, said. Mark Oddan, a spokesperson with Stars air ambulance, said two helicopters were dispatched from Saskatoon and another from Regina. He said two carried patients to the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, while the third carried a patient to Royal University from a hospital in Melfort, a short distance southeast of Weldon.

• Additional staff were called in response to an “influx of casualties” and to help tend to victims at several sites, spokesperson for the Saskatchewan health authority, Anne Linemann, said in a statement.

• Some of the victims appear to have been targeted by the suspects but others appear to have been attacked at random, Rhonda Blackmore, the assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted police in Saskatchewan, said. She did not provide a motive.

• Police identified the suspects as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30. 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 320 km (200 miles) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon, around lunchtime.

• Police called for the suspects to turn themselves in. “Let me be clear, we are still looking for the two suspects,” Assistant Commissioner and Commanding Officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, Rhonda Blackmore, said in a statement. “The two suspects are Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson … If they are listening, I would like to ask them to turn themselves in to police. They are considered armed and dangerous.”

• 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 and ran after 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.”

• 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 issued at 7.30pm.

• Saskatchewan premier, Scott Moe, also issued a statement to the community, 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 traumatise me,” she wrote. Others posted tributes to family members killed in the attack, including a young woman who had seen her grandfather the night before, only to learn he was a victim in the attacks.

Images of police forensics teams investigating a scene in Weldon, Saskatchewan, have emerged across our news wires this evening.

On social media, residents of James Smith Cree Nation have chronicled the terror that gripped their community on Sunday morning.

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 posted tributes to family members killed in the attack, including a young woman who had seen her grandfather the night before, only to learn he was a victim in the attacks.

The sparsely populated communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon are reeling from the attacks committed on its residents earlier today.

James Smith Cree Nation is indigenous community with a population of about 3,400 people largely engaged in farming, hunting and fishing.

Weldon is a village of some 200 people.

Police are calling for the two identified suspects, Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson, to turn themselves in.

Assistant Commissioner and Commanding Officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, Rhonda Blackmore, said in a statement:

Let me be clear, we are still looking for the two suspects. We are asking residents across Saskatchewan and our neighbouring provinces to be vigilant. At this stage in our investigation, we believe some of the victims have been targeted by the suspects and others have been attacked randomly.

The two suspects are Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson … If they are listening, I would like to ask them to turn themselves in to police.

They are considered armed and dangerous. They are believed to be in a black Nissan Rogue SUV with Saskatchewan licence plate 119 MPI. At this point, we don’t know if they have changed vehicle since this morning. Their location and direction of travel are unknown.”

5.40am – Police first begin receiving reports of stabbings on the James Smith Cree Nation. More reports of additional attacks quickly follow. Melfort RCMP officers are dispatched to the reported locations.

7.12am - A dangerous persons alert is issued to residents of the James Smith Cree Nation and surrounding communities – including Candle Lake, Prince Albert, Melfort, Humboldt and Rosthern – informing the public of stabbings being committed by two male suspects, and asking the public to seek immediate shelter and shelter in place. This is later extended to cover Manitoba and Alberta.

7.57am - An updated alert is sent to the same communities, with the names, descriptions, and pictures of the two suspects identified as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson.

8.20am - The dangerous persons alert is extended to the entire province of Saskatchewan. Damian Sanderson and Myles Sanderson are confirmed to be travelling in a vehicle.

9.45 am - a fourth dangerous persons alert is sent to the entire province, indicating multiple victims were found in multiple locations, including one victim outside of the James Smith Cree Nation in the community of Weldon, Saskatchewan. Police say some victims are believed to have been attacked randomly. A description of the suspect vehicle, a black Nissan Rogue with Saskatchewan licence plate 119 MPI, is released.

12.07pm – A fifth alert update is sent advising the residents of Saskatchewan the suspect vehicle was seen by a driver on Arcola Avenue in Regina about 320 km (200 miles) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon. The public in Regina is advised to consider sheltering in place.

3.40pm – RCMP confirm 10 people were killed wile at least 15 others were taken to hospital with injuries during a press conference.

Another witness has come forward reporting a little more detail from Weldon on the morning of the attacks.

Doreen Lees, an 89-year grandmother from Weldon, said she and her daughter thought they saw one of the suspects when a car came barreling down her street early in the morning as her daughter was having coffee on her deck.

Lees said a man approached them and said he was hurt and needed help but took off and ran after 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.”

I followed him a little ways to see if he was going to be OK. My daughter said Don’t follow him, get back here.’”

Authorities say there are 13 crime scenes where victims were found across Saskatchewan, including James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon.