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What we know about the mass stabbings in Canada

Police in western Canada have launched a massive search for two suspects in a series of stabbings that were among the deadliest violence to hit the country.

AFP WORLD
Published September 05,2022
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Police in western Canada have launched a massive search for two suspects in a series of stabbings that were among the deadliest violence to hit the country.

Here is a summary of what we know about the Sunday attacks:

WHAT HAPPENED?

A stabbing spree at 13 separate locations in the remote Indigenous community of James Smith Cree nation and the nearby town of Weldon in Canada's Saskatchewan province left at least 10 people dead and 15 wounded.

WHO WAS BEHIND THE ATTACK?

Police have identified the suspects as Myles Sanderson, aged 30, and Damien Sanderson, 31. They have not said what the men's relationship was.

The two were believed to be traveling in a black Nissan Rogue SUV. A woman living near the attack scene said the suspects had stolen it from her brother.

Myles Sanderson was listed in May on a provincial Crime Stoppers website as "unlawfully at large," but it provided no other details.

WHAT WAS THE MOTIVE?

Police have said it is too early to say, while adding that "some of the victims may have been targeted and some may be random."

But Indigenous leaders pointed to a possible drug connection.

"This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities," the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said.

WHO WERE THEIR VICTIMS?

Police have not identified them, but one local resident told a Saskatoon newspaper that her neighbor, who lived with his adult grandson, was killed. Another resident said a mother of two had died.

WHAT ARE POLICE DOING?

Regina police chief Evan Bray said early Monday that his force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had worked through the night in an "unrelenting" search for the suspects, after apparent sightings of the two in that provincial capital.

Earlier, authorities had warned people in a broad region including neighboring provinces to be on the lookout.

Bray said police were "confident" that someone knew the men's whereabouts and urged anyone with information to contact authorities.

WHAT HAS THE REACTION BEEN?

In a post on Twitter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks "horrific and heartbreaking" and offered condolences to all affected.

Closer to the scene, people said they were deeply traumatized.

"This is terrible, terrible," Weldon resident Diane Shier told the daily Saskatoon Star Phoenix. "We've still got our doors locked, staying inside, not going out."

WHAT OTHER ATTACKS HAVE HIT CANADA?

In recent years, a rampaging gunman masquerading as a policeman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia; six people died in a shooting at a Quebec mosque; and a man driving a van along crowded sidewalks in Toronto killed 10 people.