The RCMP are releasing details on a stabbing rampage last year in Saskatchewan. Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022. Mounties have said Myles Sanderson, who later died in police custody, carried out the attacks.
Here are the latest developments from the police news conference (all times are CT):
12:30 p.m.
RCMP say it was hard for officers to keep up with suspect Myles Sanderson as he was attacking people on James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask.
Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, says Sanderson’s attacks were unpredictable and rapid.
She says the situation was chaotic and police couldn’t keep up with Sanderson’s fast pace of abandoning vehicles, moving on foot and stealing other vehicles.
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12:15 p.m.
RCMP say they have changed the total number of injured in the stabbing attacks at James Smith Cree Nation to 17.
Mounties had said last year that 18 people were wounded in the rampage, in addition to the 11 who were killed.
They say the number changed during their investigation, but did not provide more details.
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12 a.m.
RCMP Supt. Joshua Graham says a psychological autopsy is being done of mass killer Myles Sanderson.
He says it will try to determine Sanderson’s motives and why he targeted some people and not others.
RCMP say at this time there’s no evidence to support there were any other suspects.
Officers are continuing to prepare reports for the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, which is scheduled to hold two independent inquests surrounding the killings and Sanderson’s in-custody death.
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11:45 a.m.
On Sept. 9, after a three-day manhunt and hundreds of reported sightings, RCMP arrested Myles Sanderson on a highway near Rosthern, Sask.
However, he went into medical distress soon after he was placed in custody, and died.
RCMP Supt. Joshua Graham says Sanderson killed 11 and injured 17 and left countless others mentally and emotionally impacted.
Police say that after nearly eight months, the investigation into the stabbing rampage is not complete.
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11:40 a.m.
RCMP say that at about 6:43 a.m. on Sept. 4, Myles Sanderson went to another home, kicked in the door and stole a black Nissan Rogue and a cellphone.
He next went to another house, attacked two women and left.
Police say he then ended up in the nearby village of Weldon, where he killed his last victim, 78-year-old Wesley Petterson, on his porch.
Police say another man was in the basement of the house but stayed downstairs.
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11:35 a.m.
RCMP say Myles Sanderson went to more homes on James Smith Cree Nation and stole a Red Dodge Caravan from one of them.
He ended up leaving the van in a grassy area on the First Nation and walked back to the house where he had killed Gregory Burns.
Mounties say Sanderson then attacked Bonnie Burns a second time and turned on Lydia Burns, who had been trying to help the victims.
Both women died.
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11:25 a.m.
RCMP say Myles Sanderson entered through a back door of a home, where he killed Carol Burns, who was 46.
He also attacked Thomas Burns, who was 23, and two other men.
Mounties say Thomas Burns made it outside but Sanderson followed, got into the stolen GMC Terrain and hit Burns with the vehicle.
They say Sanderson then got out of the vehicle and attacked Burns again, killing him.
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11:20 a.m.
RCMP say Myles Sanderson stole a GMC Terrain and drove to another home, where he forced his way inside.
He attacked Earl Burns, who was 66, along with a woman, then drove off in the stolen SUV.
Police say Burns, a school bus driver, managed to get in his bus and chase after Sanderson.
RCMP say the bus rolled in a ditch and Burns, a Canadian veteran, died.
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11:15 a.m.
RCMP say when Myles Sanderson entered yet another home on the James Smith Cree Nation, a witness described him as “bloody” and talking about “10 bodies.”
Sanderson had a knife and asked for keys to a vehicle.
Mounties say the person in the home refused, and Sanderson said the person was lucky.
Sanderson then walked to another home, where he stole another vehicle.
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11:05 a.m.
RCMP say Myles Sanderson forced his way into a home and killed Christian and Lana Head.
Sanderson then left the house and stole a white truck.
They say he next forced his way into another home, where he attacked a man and woman, then headed to another house.
He climbed through a window, attacked two youths, then stabbed Gregory Burns, who was 28, and his mother, 48-year-old Bonnie Burns.
Gregory Burns tried to run after Sanderson but died.
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11 a.m.
RCMP say the first victim in the mass killing was Damien Sanderson.
They say Myles and Damien Sanderson got into a fight in the stolen Dodge Caravan, and Damien Sanderson fled from the vehicle.
Damien Sanderson ran into some bushes, where he was later found dead.
Myles Sanderson then went to another home, crashed the van into the residence and killed a second person, 49-year-old Robert Sanderson.
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10:55 a.m.
RCMP say that at 5:40 a.m. on Sept. 4, Myles and Damien Sanderson forced their way into a home on James Smith Cree Nation.
They say Myles Sanderson attacked a man with scissors, and Damien Sanderson stepped in to stop the assault.
Police say Myles Sanderson grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and the brothers then drove off in the stolen Dodge Caravan.
The assault victim called 911.
RCMP say officers arrived at the First Nation at 6:18 a.m., provided medical assistance and called for help.
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10:45 a.m.
RCMP say that early on Sept. 4, witnesses described Myles and Damien Sanderson as “guzzling booze” and “pumping themselves up” for something.
RCMP say that at about 4:45 a.m., the brothers stole a Grey Dodge Caravan.
They say their investigation determined that this was the beginning of the mass killing.
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10:40 a.m.
RCMP say that on Sept. 3, after going to a nearby bar, Myles and Damien Sanderson went to a home on the First Nation, where Myles Sanderson said he was there for “one body — Gregory Burns.”
Mounties say someone in the home invited Gregory Burns over and the Sanderson brothers assaulted him, but no weapons were used.
The brothers then separated, and Myles Sanderson stayed on the First Nation.
Witnesses told police that Damien Sanderson, while at a bar, talked about “a mission ” and that “people would hear all about it in the next few hours.”
Damien Sanderson later returned to the First Nation and met up with his brother.
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10:30 a.m.
Police say that at 5:25 a.m. on Sept. 3, the vehicle reported stolen was found at a home, and officers spoke to the people inside and conducted a search.
RCMP say the keys for the vehicle were found on a table.
They say people in the home denied being Damien Sanderson.
RCMP say a later investigation determined Damien Sanderson was there but he had given officers another name and looked different than his 2014 prisoner photo.
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10:20 a.m.
RCMP say that on Sept. 3, shortly after midnight, Myles Sanderson, his brother Damian Sanderson and a woman went to James Smith Cree Nation and to a home.
Police say the brothers got into a physical fight with another man in the home.
No weapons were involved and no one was seriously injured, and the altercation is believed to have been drug related.
RCMP say that at about 4 a.m., officers received a report that Damien Sanderson had stolen a vehicle on James Smith Cree Nation.
Two officers from Melfort tried to locate Sanderson and the vehicle.
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10:15 a.m.
RCMP say that on Sept. 1, 2022, the suspect, Myles Sanderson, travelled to James Smith Cree Nation to sell cocaine.
The next day, Sanderson seriously assaulted a woman he was with in a vehicle.
Mounties say Sanderson then attempted to use the vehicle as a weapon to cause further injury to the woman outside a home.
Sanderson and his brother, Damien Sanderson, later left the home, picked up another woman and continued to sell drugs.
They then headed to a nearby bar.
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9:55 a.m.
Commanding Officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP Rhonda Blackmore says details of the killings last year at James Smith Cree Nation are unimaginable.
She says RCMP examined 42 different crime scenes, including buildings and vehicles.
Blackmore says over 697 exhibits were seized, over 250 witnesses were interviewed and 1,250 investigative tasks were assigned.
Photos of the 11 people who died have been set up on a table with a candle lit in front of each one.
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9:36 a.m.
The RCMP have begun delivering their preliminary timeline of events surrounding the 11 killings on James Smith Cree Nation and nearby village of Weldon, Sask.
The timeline covers Sept. 1 to Sept. 9, 2022.
A handful of people from the community are attending the presentation, with several women wearing ribbon skirts.
Darryl Burns, whose sister Lydia Gloria Burns died in the stabbings, says he received the timeline yesterday with other family members.
He says it brought him a little bit of closure.
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9:30 a.m.
Saskatchewan RCMP are set to present a preliminary timeline of a mass killing on James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon last year.
They say Mounties presented the timeline to family members of the victims today.
Officers also participated in smudging, prayers and a pipe ceremony to honour the 11 who died.
RCMP have also raised a teepee outside a community centre in Melfort, Sask., where the presentation is happening for media today.
