Two brothers terrorized two small towns in west-central Canada on Sunday, stabbing 11 people to death and injuring 19 others.
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Although the body of one of the two suspects was found on Monday, many gray areas remain regarding the attack, one of Canada’s worst in recent years.
At 5:40 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the first emergency call from the James Smith Cree Nation, a small, isolated community of 3,400 aboriginal people in Canada’s Midwestern province of Saskatchewan.
Several other emergency calls were received in the morning, and hours later police announced that 10 people had been killed and 18 injured in this tribal community and the neighboring town of Weldon. According to the police, there are 13 crime scenes.
As of Sunday, police had released the names of the suspects: Miles Sanderson, 30, and Damian Sanderson, 31. A manhunt immediately began around Regina, the provincial capital, 300 kilometers from the crime scene. Hundreds of police have been mobilized.
But late Monday, police announced they had found the body of Damian Sanderson with multiple stab wounds near one of the homes where the attacks took place.
“We can’t say for sure how Damian died, but he was probably killed by his brother,” he added.
Miles Sanderson, who police say may have been injured, is still being sought. He has already served nearly five years in federal prison for assault, robbery and violence. On parole, he went missing and had been wanted since May.
Several elements remain to be clarified. During a press conference, Canadian police again explained that they had “not established a motive.”
Shortly after the killings, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said some victims were “targeted” and others were “randomly attacked.”
For his part, Bobby Cameron, president of the Confederation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, blamed the attacks on “illegal drugs invading our communities”.
On social media, many members of the community paid tribute to their slain relatives. Among them was Lana Head, 49, a mother of two children, aged 31 and 30.
According to Canadian media, a rescue worker named Gloria Burns was killed after responding to the 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 pensioner died according to her neighbours.
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