Saskatchewan stabbings: 2nd suspect died from ‘medical distress,’ official says

ROSTHERN, Saskatchewan — Authorities in Canada said Myles Sanderson, the remaining suspect in the Sunday stabbing spree that left 10 dead and at least 19 wounded across 13 locations in Saskatchewan, died of self-inflicted wounds after police ran him off the road on Wednesday.

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Update 11:58 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: Rhonda Blackmore, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan, said during a news conference that Myles Sanderson, 32, went into “medical distress” after he was arrested. A knife was found inside his vehicle after he was detained, The Associated Press reported.

Blackmore said CPR was attempted on Sanderson before an ambulance arrived. Sanderson was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“All life-saving measures that we are capable of were taken at that time,” she said.

Blackmore said the RCMP does not have a motive for the attacks, CBC News reported.

“Now that Myles is deceased we may never have an understanding of that motivation,” she said.

Blackmore gave no details on the cause of death, telling reporters, “I can’t speak to the specific manner of death.”

However, an official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, earlier said Sanderson died of self-inflicted injuries, without giving any further details.

Update 8:50 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: An official confirmed to The Associated Press and CBC News that Myles Sanderson, 32, died of self-inflicted wounds after his vehicle was run off the road by Canadian police.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the news outlets that Sanderson’s wounds were self-inflicted but did not provide further details. The official also did not say when Sanderson died, the AP reported.

Sanderson was removed from his vehicle and transported to an area hospital by ambulance, according to CTV News.

Original report: The arrest of Sanderson, 32, came after an emergency alert was issued Wednesday afternoon about a person allegedly armed with a knife was reported in Wakaw, Saskatchewan, CTV reported. It ended a four-day manhunt by police.

Sanderson was located near the town of Rosthern in Saskatchewan at about 3:30 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of breaking-and-entering, according to the RCMP.

The RCMP previously indicated that more charges would be filed, the Regina Leader-Post reported.

“Now we can start to heal. The healing begins today, now,” Brian Burns, whose wife and son were killed, told The Associated Press.

The stabbings occurred across 13 locations in the James Smith Cree Nation area and in the nearby village of Weldon, Saskatchewan, CBC News reported.

“The Saskatchewan RCMP would like to thank the public for their diligence in providing pertinent information about potential sightings of Myles Sanderson,” the RCMP said in a news release.

The 10 victims ranged in age from 23 to 78 years old, CNN reported. The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service and Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police provided names and ages of the victims in a statement on Wednesday, the news outlet reported.

The victims were identified as Thomas Burns, 23; Carol Burns, 46; Gregory Burns, 28; Lydia Gloria Burns, 61; Bonnie Burns, 48; Earl Burns, 66; Lana Head, 49; Christian Head, 54; Robert Sanderson, 49; and Wesley Petterson, 78.

Petterson is from Weldon, while the other nine victims are from the James Smith Cree Nation.

Saskatchewan had been under a civil emergency alert since Sunday as the hunt continued for Sanderson, the prime suspect in the James Smith Cree Nation mass stabbing incident, according to CBC News.

“We’ve shed a lot of tears in the last couple of days,” Mark Arcand said at a Saskatoon Tribal Council news conference. “We’re hurt, we’re broken, but we’re not defeated.”

Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said that Damien Sanderson, 31, was found dead Monday evening with wounds that did not appear to be self-inflicted.

RCMP officials confirmed to the Toronto Star that Damien Sanderson was found outdoors on the James Smith Cree Nation in a grassy area with “visible injuries” not believed to be self-inflicted.

Blackmore told the newspaper that investigators have not yet determined if Myles Sanderson was involved in Damien Sanderson’s death.

Myles Sanderson was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of over four years on charges that included assault and robbery, according to the AP. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, the news outlet reported.

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