The latest suspect in attacks that left 10 dead and 18 injured on Sunday in a community in central Canada was arrested on Wednesday, police said, ending more than three days of a hunt. He was taken into custody.
The man “has been located […] near Rosthern, Saskatchewan at approximately 3:30 p.m.” (11:30 p.m. in Switzerland), police in the province said in a social media post. “There is no longer a public safety risk related to this investigation.” , she added, taking the opportunity to thank the inhabitants who provided “relevant information”.
The police had been tracking since Sunday in the center-west of the country the 32-year-old man, suspected of being responsible, with his brother, for one of the deadliest attacks in recent years in the country. Known to the police and the justice system for multiple acts of violence, thefts, he had already been wanted since last May for not having respected his judicial control.
“Nightmare”
Monday, the body of his brother, suspected of being his accomplice, was found, larded with several stab wounds near the scene of the crimes. The circumstances of his death remain to be clarified, but he could have been killed by his brother, according to the police.
On Wednesday, authorities revealed the identities of those killed, nine out of 10 of whom are from the James Smith Cree Nation community, the last from the nearby village of Weldon.
They are men and women between the ages of 23 and 78. Among the injured, there is a “young teenager” and seventeen adults, added the federal police.
Ten patients were still hospitalized on Wednesday and three remained in critical condition, according to health authorities.
Before the suspect’s arrest was announced and for the first time since Sunday, some families spoke publicly to tell their “nightmare”. “It’s a difficult time for our families,” Mark Arcand told the press, referring to “horrible and senseless acts”. His sister Bonnie Burns, 48, and his nephew Grégory Burns, 28, are among the victims.
So far, the relatives had chosen to express themselves almost exclusively on social networks, asking the media to stay away from their community, which has only 3,400 people.
“A War Zone”
“I lost a lot of my family members. There were bodies all over the floor, some dead and several others with serious stab wounds and bleeding,” Michael Brett Burns wrote on Facebook.
“It was a war zone. In their eyes you could see the pain and suffering of those who were assaulted,” he added.
In another post, Dillon Burns said his mother Gloria died “protecting a young man while he was being attacked”, adding that “she would have done the same for all of us… [même] for the man who took his life.” According to the police, some victims were targeted while others were randomly beaten.
In Canada, Aboriginal people represent approximately 5% of the 38 million inhabitants and live in communities often ravaged by unemployment and poverty. They are also more often victims of homicide.
ats, afp