(Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

By CKOM News

JAMES SMITH CREE NATION

RCMP laying out preliminary timeline of September rampage

Apr 27, 2023 | 11:09 AM

The commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP focused on the victims of the Labour Day 2022 stabbing rampage to begin a media conference Thursday.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult the last seven or so months have been, as the survivors, the families, friends and loved ones of the victims, the communities, our province and our country are still reeling from this tragedy,” Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said during a media conference in Melfort.

“And also because we know everyone has been waiting for answers – answers to what happened (and) answers as to why it happened. Some of these answers, unfortunately, may never be known.”

During the media conference, the Mounties are to lay out a preliminary timeline of the events that happened Sept. 4 when Myles Sanderson killed 11 people – 10 on the James Smith Cree Nation and one in nearby Weldon – and hurt 18 others during his stabbing rampage.

After a provincewide manhunt, Sanderson was arrested by the RCMP near Rosthern on Sept. 7. Shortly after his arrest, he went into what the Mounties called “medical distress” and later died in a Saskatoon hospital.

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Sanderson’s brother, Damien, was initially considered a suspect in the killings as well, but his body was found on the James Smith Cree Nation and police determined he had been killed by Myles.

Charges against the brothers were withdrawn after their deaths.

The RCMP said before Thursday’s event began that the information being provided wouldn’t impact the two upcoming coroner’s inquests and the independent investigation being conducted by the Saskatoon Police Service and the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team.

For that reason, the Mounties didn’t share information about Myles Sanderson being unlawfully at large and the efforts police made to find him before Sept. 4, the police response to the attacks, details about what occurred in each residence on the day of the killings, the cause and manner of the victims’ deaths, and information around Sanderson’s arrest and subsequent death.

In her opening remarks, Blackmore said police investigated 42 different crime scenes, buildings, vehicles and more as part of the investigation, More than 1,250 investigative tasks were completed, 697 exhibits were collected and 257 witness interviews were conducted.

“It has been, and continues to be, an incredibly complex and large-scale investigation,” Blackmore said. “The details are unimaginable.”

Following Blackmore’s remarks, Supt. Joshua Graham – the officer in charge of the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes unit – started a presentation that laid out the timeline.

More to come.