The run of the main suspect in the knife attacks that killed 10 people in Saskatchewan ended last night with his death following his arrest. Several questions therefore remain unanswered for the families of the victims.
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“I feel relieved, he won’t be able to come back to do any harm. But our little village will never be the same again. Things will never go back to the way they were,” he told Log Anna Ballingall, who lives behind Wesley Petterson, killed in her home, Weldon.
After four days of intense stalking, Myles Sanderson was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) around 3:30 p.m. local time near the town of Rosthern, north of Saskatoon.
A few hours earlier, Sanderson had been seen with a knife in his hand prowling near a residence, in the vicinity of Wakaw, said the RCMP last night at a press briefing. He then stole a white van.
Incomprehension
Shortly after his arrest on Route 11, the 32-year-old suspect entered medical distress. He was taken to hospital in Saskatoon, where he eventually died.
“With the death of Myles Sanderson, we may never understand his motives,” said Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, Commander of the RCMP in Saskatchewan.
Many Saskatchewanians wish Sanderson were still alive to understand what prompted him to carry out attacks within the James Smith Cree Nation as well as in the nearby village of Weldon. His motives remain unclear.
The toll is blood-curdling: 10 dead, 18 injured and 13 main crime scenes.
On Monday, the suspect’s brother, Damien Sanderson, who was also wanted by police, was added to the death toll after he was found dead in James Smith Nation territory with injuries he didn’t recover. was not self-inflicted, suggesting that Myles murdered him. The investigation is continuing to determine his involvement.
terrified
This manhunt has thrown a terrifying atmosphere in the province in recent days, even forcing schools to bar their exterior doors and leave the children inside for recess and lunch.
Photo AFP and courtesy RCMP
Police are investigating and documenting the scene where Myles Sanderson (in mortise) was arrested yesterday in this white vehicle.
Some places have taken on the appearance of ghost towns, while several residents have barricaded themselves, at the request of the authorities.
At the same time, bereaved families testified to their pain by paying tribute to the victims.
The tension was such that Sanderson’s parents implored their son to turn himself in to authorities, in a CBC report yesterday.
troubled past
During this commotion which mobilized hundreds of police officers, his troubled past resurfaced, he who has accumulated 59 criminal convictions since the age of 18, in particular for armed assaults and threats.
It has been revealed that a probation officer ruled, in support of his release last February, that the suspect posed “no undue risk to society”.
An independent investigation was opened by the Parole Board of Canada and Correctional Service Canada to understand the process related to his release.