The final suspect in stabbings that killed 10 people in and around a Canadian Indigenous reserve died of self-inflicted wounds after his car was run off the road by police Wednesday following a four-day manhunt, officials said.
Myles Sanderson, 32, was found near Rosthern, Saskatchewan, as officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle being driven by a man armed with a knife, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Officers rammed Sanderson's vehicle off the road, said an official who was familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk publicly.
The official said the fugitive's injuries were self-inflicted, but he didn't have further details on when the injuries were inflicted or when he died. Video and photos from the scene showed a white SUV off to the side of the road with police cars all around. Air bags had deployed in the SUV.
Myles Sanderson's death came two days after the body of his brother, Damien Sanderson, 30, was found in a field near the scene of their rampage, which also wounded 18 people. Police were investigating whether Myles Sanderson killed his brother.
'The healing begins'
Some family members of the victims arrived at the scene Wednesday, including Brian Burns, whose wife and son were killed.
"Now we can start to heal. The healing begins today, now," he said.
The stabbing rampage raised questions of why Myles Sanderson — an ex-convict with 59 convictions and a long history of violence — was out on the streets in the first place.
He was released by a parole board in February while serving a sentence of more than four years on charges that included assault and robbery. But he had been wanted by police since May, apparently for violating the terms of his release, though the details were not immediately clear.
Also, seven years ago, he attacked and stabbed one of the victims killed in the weekend rampage, according to court records.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said there would be an investigation into the parole board's assessment of Sanderson.
"I want to know the reasons behind the decision" to release him, Mendicino said. "I'm extremely concerned with what occurred here. A community has been left reeling."
Investigators have not given a motive for the bloodshed.
The Saskatchewan Coroner's Service said nine of those killed were from the James Smith Cree Nation: Thomas Burns, 23; Carol Burns, 46; Gregory Burns, 28; Lydia Gloria Burns, 61; Bonnie Burns, 48; Earl Burns, 66; Lana Head, 49; Christian Head, 54; and Robert Sanderson, 49. One was from Weldon, Wesley Patterson, 78.
Authorities would not say how the victims might be related.
Mark Arcand said his half sister Bonnie and her son Gregory were killed.
"Her son was lying there already deceased. My sister went out and tried to help her son, and she was stabbed two times, and she died right beside him," he said. "Right outside of her home she was killed by senseless acts. She was protecting her son. She was protecting three little boys. This is why she is a hero."
Arcand rushed to the reserve the morning of the rampage. After that, he said, "I woke up in the middle of the night just screaming and yelling. What I saw that day I can't get out of my head."
Struggling to explain
As for what set off the violence, Arcand said: "We're all looking for those same answers. We don't know what happened. Maybe we'll never know. That's the hardest part of this."
Court documents said Sanderson attacked his in-laws Earl Burns and Joyce Burns in 2015, knifing Earl Burns repeatedly and wounding Joyce Burns. He later pleaded guilty of assault and threatening Earl Burns' life.
Many of Sanderson's crimes were committed when he was intoxicated, according to court records. He told parole officials at one point that substance use made him out of his mind. Records showed he repeatedly violated court orders barring him from drinking or using drugs.
Many of Canada's Indigenous communities are plagued by drug and alcohol use.
"The drug problem and the alcohol problem on these reserves is way out of hand," said Ivor Wayne Burns, whose sister was killed in the weekend attacks. "We have dead people, and we asked before for something to be done."
When he was released in February, the parole board set conditions on his contact with his partner and children and also said he should not enter into relationships with women without written permission from his parole officer.
In granting Sanderson "statutory release," parole authorities said: "It is the Board's opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society."
Canadian law grants prisoners statutory release after they serve two-thirds of their sentences. But the parole board can impose conditions on that freedom, and inmates who violate them — as Sanderson did more than once — can be ordered back to prison.
