OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s worst-ever mass stabbing, which left 11 people dead and 17 wounded in Saskatchewan last year, was carried out by just one of the two brothers initially thought to be responsible, CBC News reported police as saying on Thursday.
The stabbing spree, spanning 13 sites across the two tiny communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon in rural Saskatchewan, rattled a country unaccustomed to acts of mass violence.
Two brothers, Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, were initially identified as suspects. Damien was found dead during an intense four-day manhunt that ended with Myles’s capture. Myles later died in police custody.
On Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police released a statement containing a detailed timeline of the events just before and during the stabbings on Sept. 4, 2022.
Police now believe Damien did not commit any of the homicides, Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, told reporters at a news conference, according to CBC News. She said Damien was involved in the initial planning for the killings on Sept. 4, however.
According to the timeline, the brothers were in James Smith Cree Nation selling cocaine from Sept. 1. On the eve of the stabbings, Sept. 3, police said Damien went to a local bar.
“Damien told an adult female acquaintance that he and Myles ‘have a mission to do’ and that ‘people would hear all about it in the next few hours,” said Joshua Graham, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes unit, told the news conference.
The brothers attacked their first victim the next morning just after 5:40 am local time, the timeline said. Shortly afterwards, there was an altercation between them.
“Based on scene examination, investigation has determined Damien fled from the vehicle and ran into the bushes/trees, where he later was located deceased,” the timeline said.
A further 26 people were killed or injured in the subsequent stabbing spree that lasted just over an hour.
Police said the timeline was meant to show the sequence in which the homicides and attempted murders occurred, but would not comment on the police response or Myles’s death while investigations are ongoing.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Nia Williams, editing by Deepa Babington)
