The RCMP tweeted that Myles Sanderson was arrested around 3:30pm local time. Sanderson has been deemed “armed and dangerous” by police.
“There is no longer a risk to public safety associated with this investigation,” the RCMP tweeted.
Sanderson’s arrest comes three days after 10 people were killed in a mass stabbing and 18 others were injured. The victims ranged in age from 23 to 78 years old, authorities said.
Myles Sanderson is wanted on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and then breaking into and entering a residence.
Police on Tuesday reported a possible sighting of Sanderson at the James Smith Cree Nation, but police later determined he was not in the community. Authorities say the search has extended to the entire province of Saskatchewan.
All but one victim from the James Smith Cree Nation
According to authorities, the 10 victims ranged in age from 23 to 78, and all but one were from the James Smith Cree Nation’s indigenous community.
Saskatchewan Registration Service and RCMP provided the names and ages of the victims in a statement Wednesday but declined to confirm their relationship. Six of the victims shared the last name with Burns, two with the last name Head and one with the last name of the two suspects in the attacks.
The identified victims are:
- Thomas Burns, 23 years old
- Carol Burns, 46 years old
- Gregory Burns, 28 years old
- Lydia Gloria Burns, 61 years old
- Bonnie Burns, 48 years old
- Earl Burns, 66 years old
- Lana Head, 49 years old
- Christian Head, 54 years old
- Robert Sanderson, 49 years old
- Wesley Petterson, 78 years old
Petterson was from Weldon, Saskatchewan, while the other nine victims were from the James Smith Cree Nation.
Several family members of some of the victims spoke at Wednesday’s press conference about their loved ones. Saskatoon Tribe leader Mark Arcand identified Bonnie Burns as his sister and Gregory Burns as her son, and he said another of her sons was stabbed but survived.
“Let’s be honest, we don’t really know what happened. We just know that members of our family were killed in their own homes, in their yards,” Arcand said. .
In addition, 18 people were injured in the stabbings, but authorities will not reveal their identities. “We can confirm one teenager was injured and the rest of the injured are adults. We will not confirm other specific ages,” the agencies said.
Information about the victim is released as Canadian police continue to aggressively search for one of the two suspects in the brutal attack, which spanned 13 different crime scenes in the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon, a nearby rural village.
Some victims were clearly targeted, police say
It remains unclear what the motive for the violence was and how or if the brothers knew any of the victims.
Some were clearly targeted while others may have been randomly attacked, Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Rhonda Blackmore said at a briefing Monday.
It is also unclear whether the brothers carried out the attacks at the same time, according to Blackmore.
Police said the stabbing was first reported on James Smith Cree Nation at 5:40pm.
The country has a population of about 3,400 with about 1,800 members living in the reserve, according to its website.
By 9:45 a.m., authorities had reported victims in multiple locations, including one in Weldon.
Lydia Gloria Burns, first responder, Darryl Burns, her brother, told Reuters that she was answering a crisis call when she became entangled in violence and was killed.
“She was butchered,” her brother Ivor Burns told Reuters.
The discovery of Damien Sanderson’s body the day after the attacks also raised questions about his brother’s involvement in his death. But police said Monday that it was unclear if Myles Sanderson was involved.
“It’s an avenue of investigation that we’re monitoring, but we can’t say definitively at this point,” Blackmore said.
The suspect has a ‘long’ criminal history and has been released by parole
Blackmore previously said that Sanderson issued an arrest warrant prior to the stabbing.
“Myles’ record goes back many years and it covers both property and human crimes,” Blackmore said, without elaborating on the alleged crimes.
“His actions show that he is a violent person and so we continue to insist that people be on the lookout,” Blackmore added.
Sanderson has been granted statutory release by the Parole Board of Canada, according to a ruling made on February 1, 2022.
Statutory release is a presumptive release under the law that allows an offender to serve part of their sentence in the community under direct supervision, according to the board. Under Canadian law, the Canadian Corrections Service must release most offenders under supervision after they have served two-thirds of their sentence, if they have not been pardoned, with the exception of those who are in prison. sentenced to life in prison.
The board said in its ruling that it did not believe Sanderson would pose a risk to the public if released. The decision took into account his long criminal history and he was assessed by a psychologist as having a “moderate risk of violence”.
“Your criminal history is worrisome, including the use of violence and weapons in connection with your offenses, and your history of domestic violence has put your family, including children, children and people who are not your family,” the ruling stated.
In a statement, the Parole Board said it “opens its thoughts to the victims, their families and all those who have been affected as a result of these senseless acts of violence and this terrible.”
Citing the Privacy Act, the panel said it could not discuss the specifics of a violator’s case.
CNN’s Paula Newton, Tina Burnside, Chuck Johnston, Michelle Watson and Cara Lynn Clarkson contributed to this report.
