Newsman::The second suspect connected to a mass stabbing spree died shortly after being taken into police custody, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have confirmed.
In a press conference, the RCMP said that Myles Sanderson went into what was described as “medical distress” shortly after being detained earlier Wednesday afternoon. He was taken to a hospital in Saskatoon and pronounced dead, Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore told reporters. She said she could not provide further detail about his death, except to say that “all life-saving measures were taken.”
There will be an investigation launched into the circumstances surrounding his death, Blackmore said, and an autopsy will be conducted later this week.
Canadian authorities located and took Myles Sanderson into custody, the Saskatchewan RCMP said. Shortly after his arrest, he went into medical distress and was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the RCMP said Wednesday night. Damien Sanderson was found dead on Monday in a field near the stabbing sites with “visible injuries.”
Brothers Myles Sanderson, 30, and Damien Sanderson, 31, were suspected of carrying out the stabbing spree that killed 10 people and injured 19 in the Indigenous communities of James Smith Cree Nation and the town of Weldon, in Saskatchewan, on Sunday, authorities said.
Authorities launched a multi-day manhunt for the Sandersons on Sunday.
Police in Saskatoon confirmed to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that they had been searching for Myles Sanderson since May, when he violated parole by failing to meet with his parole officer. He was classified as “unlawfully at large,” Saskatoon police told CBC.
Myles Sanderson was placed on parole after serving a nearly five-year federal sentence for assault, robbery, mischief and uttering threats, according to CBC.
The Melfort RCMP canceled its Dangerous Persons Alert upon Myles Sanderson’s arrest, saying the public is no longer at risk.
The stabbings took place Sunday morning in 13 locations across the James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby village of Weldon.
Investigators believe some of the victims were “targeted” while others were “attacked randomly,” RCMP Commanding Officer Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said earlier this week.
Officials released the identities of the victims killed in the string of stabbings on Wednesday.
Authorities are investigating the motive for the attacks.
The Saskatchewan RCMP got its first 911 call about a stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation, about 20 miles from Weldon, around 5:40 a.m. local time on Sunday. Within minutes, police received several more calls from multiple locations. In total, victims were found at 13 different locations across the sparsely populated reserve and in the town, according to Blackmore.
