TORONTO (Parlaiment Politics Magazine) – One of the bloodiest mass murders in Canadian history occurred on Sunday as a wave of stabbings spread through Saskatchewan.
Attacks of this kind are less frequent in Canada than they are in the US, and fatal mass stabbings are much rarer than mass shootings.
- In a string of stabbings that occurred on Sunday in 13 different places throughout an Indigenous community and a village nearby in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, ten people were killed and at least 15 others were injured.
- Around 5.40 a.m. on Sunday, police initially started getting reports of stabbings in the James Smith Cree Nation neighbourhood. The neighbouring community of Weldon, located northeast of Saskatoon, rapidly received reports of additional attacks. There are only 3,400 and 200 residents in each of the settlements, respectively.
- Although Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted police, speculated that there might be more injured victims who brought themselves to various hospitals, at least 15 people were rushed to the hospital. Two helicopters were dispatched from Saskatoon, and another from Regina, said a spokesperson with Stars air ambulance, Mark Oddan,
- Blackmore said, some of the victims seem to have been targeted while other victims appear to have been stabbed randomly. She did not give a reason.
- 31-year old Damien Sanderson, and 30 years old Myles Sanderson were named as the suspects, and the police asked that they surrender. Although there are some questions as to their relationship, both are believed to have brown eyes and black hair. A black Nissan Rogue with the licence plate 119 MPI was last seen in Regina the capital of Saskatchewan, which is located about 200 miles (320 kilometres) south of the locations of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon.
- The attacks were “horrific and heartbreaking,” said Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, in a statement supporting the families of the people who were killed. He said in a tweet the attacks in Saskatchewan were horrific and heartbreaking. Later, Trudeau stated that the perpetrators of the “abhorrent attacks” of today must be “fully brought to justice.” The Canadian government, Trudeau, said had been in “direct communication” with the community leadership of the James Smith Cree Nation and was ready to assist in any way they could.
- Following the attacks, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents First Nations organisations in Saskatchewan, issued a statement expressing its “deepest condolences” and “solidarity.” Their hearts ache for everyone affected. That was the destruction that resulted when dangerous illegal narcotics entered their communities, said FSIN chief Bobby Cameron in the statement.
- One of the three elected chiefs of the three communities that make up the James Smith Cree Nation, Calvin Sanderson of the Chakastaypasin, spoke of the effects the attacks have had on the tight-knit community. Everyone was impacted. They were their relatives and friends. It was difficult because most of them were related to one another here; it was horrible, he told the Associated Press.
- Friends and family who spoke with local media said that the three victims have been named. Reports say a 77-year-old widower, Wes Petterson, who frequently assisted his neighbours, was killed. A resident of Weldon, Ruby Works, told Associated Press that he took no action. He didn’t deserve it. He was a good, compassionate man. A mother of two, Lana Head and her partner are also said to have been killed. Michael Brett Burns, Head’s former partner, told APTN News that both Head and her current male partner died as a result of their injuries.
