Two brothers terrorized two small towns in west-central Canada on Sunday, stabbing to death ten people and injuring 18 others.
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Despite the discovery of the body of one of the two suspects on Monday, many gray areas persist regarding this attack, one of the deadliest in recent years in Canada.
What happened?
Sunday at 5:40 a.m. (11:40 GMT), the police responded to a first emergency call from James Smith Cree Nation, a small isolated community of 3,400 inhabitants, home to an indigenous population, in the province of Saskatchewan, in the west-central Canada.
Several other emergency calls followed in the morning, and, a few hours later, the police announced that attacks had left 10 dead and 18 injured in this indigenous community and in the nearby town of Weldon. According to the police, there are 13 crime scenes.
Who are the suspects?
As of Sunday, the police released the names of the suspects: Myles Sanderson, 30, and Damien Sanderson, 31. Immediately a manhunt started, especially around Regina, the capital of the province 300 kilometers from the scene of the crime where they would have been seen. Hundreds of police are deployed.
But at the end of the day on Monday, the police announced that they had finally found the body of Damien Sanderson, larded with several stab wounds, near one of the houses where the attacks took place.
“We cannot say for sure how Damian died, but he may have been killed by his brother,” she added.
Myles Sanderson, possibly also injured according to the police, is still wanted. He was already known to have served a federal sentence of almost five years for assault, robbery and violence. On parole, he had disappeared and had been wanted since May.
What are their motivations?
They still need to be clarified. During a press conference, the Canadian police again explained “not having established a motive”.
Shortly after the killings, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said some victims appeared to have been “targeted” and others “randomly attacked.”
For his part, the leader of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Bobby Cameron, blamed the attacks on “illegal drugs that invade our communities”.
Who are the victims?
Authorities have not provided details of the victims, but a majority are Indigenous, from James Smith’s Cree community.
On social media, many community members paid tribute to their slain loved ones. Among them was Lana Head, 49, who was a mother of two children aged 31 and 30.
According to Canadian media, Gloria Burns, a rescue worker, was killed after responding to a call. Ivor and Darryl Burns explained that their sister Gloria was killed along with her partner and a 14-year-old boy.
In Weldon, a 77-year-old widowed retiree died, according to his neighbors.