Canadian police said that two suspects implicated in the fatal stabbing of 10 people in the province of Saskatchewan on Sunday were still at large, despite a wide-ranging manhunt that continued through the night.
Evan Bray, chief of police in the town of Regina, Saskatchewan, said on Monday: “Unfortunately the two males are still at large, this despite ongoing, relentless efforts through the night by both the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] and the Regina police service.”
The RCMP issued a dangerous persons alert just after 7am on Sunday after multiple people were stabbed in the James Smith Cree Nation, an indigenous reserve, and in Weldon, a rural town nearly 150km away from Saskatoon, the province’s most populous city.
In addition to the 10 people killed, 15 others were injured.
The RCMP identified two suspects, 30-year-old Damien Sanderson and 31-year-old Myles Sanderson. It said there were 13 incident locations in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, which are about 25km apart.
“We believe some victims have been targeted by the suspect and others have been attacked randomly,” Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, told reporters. She said the relationship between the suspects was unclear.
Some victims of the attacks were airlifted to a hospital in Saskatoon, with others transported by ground to facilities in other parts of the province.
The police said the suspects’ vehicle was seen shortly before 12pm in Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital, which is almost 300km from Weldon. Blackmore said they were travelling in a black Nissan Rogue, but did not know if they had since changed vehicles.
The James Smith Cree Nation, which has an on-reserve population of about 1,900, declared a state of emergency on Sunday that will be in effect until September 30.
After the attacks, the RCMP set up checkpoints in the province and in British Columbia, west of Saskatchewan. Police in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, are assisting the RCMP in searching for the suspects.
Blackmore said she had asked that the dangerous persons alert be extended to Manitoba and Alberta, two prairie provinces to the east and west of Saskatchewan, respectively.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, described the incident as “horrific and heartbreaking”.