Canada mass stabbing: police search for two suspects after 10 killed across Saskatchewan – latest updates | Canada

Weldon residents have identified one of the victims in the attacks as Wes Petterson.

Ruby Works said the 77-year-old widower was like an uncle to her. Speaking to the Associated Press, she said:

He didn’t do anything. He didn’t deserve this. He was a good, kind hearted man.

I collapsed and hit the ground. I’ve known him since I was just a little girl,” she said, describing the moment she heard the news.

Works said he loved his cats, was proud of his homemade Saskatoon berry jam and frequently helped out his neighbours.

She said the event has shaken a community where the sounds of sirens are rarely heard.

No one in this town is ever going to sleep again. They’re going to be terrified to open their door, she said

Weldon resident Robert Rush also described the victim as a gentle, widowed man in his 70s.

He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” he said.

Rush said Petterson’s adult grandson was in the basement at the time and phoned police.

As nightfall descends on the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, here is where things stand:

• Police first begin receiving reports of stabbings around 5.40am on the James Smith Cree Nation. More reports of additional attacks quickly followed in the nearby village of Weldon, north-east of Saskatoon. Both communities are sparsely populated with 3,400 and 200 people respectively.

• At least 15 people were taken to hospital although “there may be additional injured victims who transported themselves to various hospitals,” Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said. Mark Oddan, a spokesperson with Stars air ambulance, said two helicopters were dispatched from Saskatoon and another from Regina. He said two carried patients to the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, while the third carried a patient to Royal University from a hospital in Melfort, a short distance southeast of Weldon.

• Additional staff were called in response to an “influx of casualties” and to help tend to victims at several sites, spokesperson for the Saskatchewan health authority, Anne Linemann, said in a statement.

• Some of the victims appear to have been targeted by the suspects but others appear to have been attacked at random, Rhonda Blackmore, the assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted police in Saskatchewan, said. She did not provide a motive.

• Police identified the suspects as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30. Both are said to have black hair and brown eyes though the relationship between them is unclear. The pair were last sighted driving a black Nissan Rogue with licence plate 119 MPI in Saskatchewan’s capital of Regina, about 320 km (200 miles) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon, around lunchtime.

• Police called for the suspects to turn themselves in. “Let me be clear, we are still looking for the two suspects,” Assistant Commissioner and Commanding Officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, Rhonda Blackmore, said in a statement. “The two suspects are Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson … If they are listening, I would like to ask them to turn themselves in to police. They are considered armed and dangerous.”

• One witness said she believed one of the suspects approached her and her daughter claiming he was hurt. Doreen Lees, 89, said she and her daughter thought they saw one of the suspects when a car came barreling down her street in Weldon early in the morning. Lees said a man approached them and said he was hurt and needed help but took off and ran after her daughter said she would call for help. “He wouldn’t show his face. He had a big jacket over his face. We asked his name and he kind of mumbled his name twice and we still couldn’t get it,” she told the Associated Press. “He said his face was injured so bad he couldn’t show it.” She said the man was by himself and “kind of a little wobbly.”

• Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described the attacks as “horrific and heartbreaking” in a statement of support to the families of those killed. “The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. I’m thinking of those who have lost a loved one and of those who were injured,” he said in a tweet issued at 7.30pm.

• Saskatchewan premier, Scott Moe, also issued a statement to the community, describing the attacks as “senseless violence”. “There are no words to adequately describe the pain and loss caused by this senseless violence. All of Saskatchewan grieves with the victims and their families,” he said.

• Residents of James Smith Cree Nation chronicled the events on social media. One woman posted an image of a broken door handle, adding that she was glad her younger sister wasn’t home when it was broken into. “This is forever gonna traumatise me,” she wrote. Others posted tributes to family members killed in the attack, including a young woman who had seen her grandfather the night before, only to learn he was a victim in the attacks.

Police are calling for the two identified suspects, Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson, to turn themselves in.

Assistant Commissioner and Commanding Officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, Rhonda Blackmore, said in a statement:

Let me be clear, we are still looking for the two suspects. We are asking residents across Saskatchewan and our neighbouring provinces to be vigilant. At this stage in our investigation, we believe some of the victims have been targeted by the suspects and others have been attacked randomly.

The two suspects are Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson … If they are listening, I would like to ask them to turn themselves in to police.

They are considered armed and dangerous. They are believed to be in a black Nissan Rogue SUV with Saskatchewan licence plate 119 MPI. At this point, we don’t know if they have changed vehicle since this morning. Their location and direction of travel are unknown.”

5.40am – Police first begin receiving reports of stabbings on the James Smith Cree Nation. More reports of additional attacks quickly follow. Melfort RCMP officers are dispatched to the reported locations.

7.12am – A dangerous persons alert is issued to residents of the James Smith Cree Nation and surrounding communities – including Candle Lake, Prince Albert, Melfort, Humboldt and Rosthern – informing the public of stabbings being committed by two male suspects, and asking the public to seek immediate shelter and shelter in place. This is later extended to cover Manitoba and Alberta.

7.57am – An updated alert is sent to the same communities, with the names, descriptions, and pictures of the two suspects identified as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson.

8.20am – The dangerous persons alert is extended to the entire province of Saskatchewan. Damian Sanderson and Myles Sanderson are confirmed to be travelling in a vehicle.

9.45 am – a fourth dangerous persons alert is sent to the entire province, indicating multiple victims were found in multiple locations, including one victim outside of the James Smith Cree Nation in the community of Weldon, Saskatchewan. Police say some victims are believed to have been attacked randomly. A description of the suspect vehicle, a black Nissan Rogue with Saskatchewan licence plate 119 MPI, is released.

12.07pm – A fifth alert update is sent advising the residents of Saskatchewan the suspect vehicle was seen by a driver on Arcola Avenue in Regina about 320 km (200 miles) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon. The public in Regina is advised to consider sheltering in place.

3.40pm – RCMP confirm 10 people were killed wile at least 15 others were taken to hospital with injuries during a press conference.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has issued a statement of support to the families of those killed in today’s attacks.

The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. I’m thinking of those who have lost a loved one and of those who were injured,” he said in a tweet issued at 7.30pm.

We are closely monitoring the situation, and urge everyone to follow updates from local authorities. Thank you to all the brave first responders for their efforts on the ground.”

The search for two suspects – Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson – is still underway as police urge residents not to approach suspicious persons.

Both were said to have black hair and brown eyes and possibly to be driving a black Nissan Rogue.

The Regina police service said in a news release that with the help of the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, it was working on several fronts to locate and arrest the suspects and had “deployed additional resources for public safety throughout the city, including the football game at Mosaic Stadium.

The alert first issued by Melfort, Saskatchewan RCMP about 7am was extended hours later to cover Manitoba and Alberta, as the two suspects remained at large.

Police said the last information they had from the public was that the suspects were sighted in Saskatchewan’s capital of Regina around lunchtime.

If in the Regina area, take precautions and consider sheltering in place,” the RCMP said in a message on Twitter.

Do not leave a secure location. DO NOT APPROACH suspicious persons. Do not pick up hitchhikers. Report suspicious persons, emergencies or info to 9-1-1. Do not disclose police locations.”

Hello, we are covering the latest news from Canada where 10 people have been killed in stabbings across Saskatchewan, according to police.

Here are the latest lines.

• Fifteen people have been taken to hospital after the stabbings in multiple locations in the James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon, north-east of Saskatoon, police said.

• Some of the victims appear to have been targeted by the suspects but others appear to have been attacked at random, Rhonda Blackmore, the assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted police in Saskatchewan, said. She did not provide a motive.