Suspect among 2 dead in mass stabbing in Canada, 8 injured
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — A man killed his sister and injured seven others in a mass stabbing at a First Nation reserve in Canada before dying in a collision with a police car, authorities said Thursday.
The Mounties identified the attacker as 26-year-old Tyrone Simard and said he killed his 18-year-old sister.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Rob Lasson said an officer was responding to a mass stabbing, when her cruiser crashed with a stolen vehicle driven by the suspect. Lasson said he died on the scene and a female officer driving the cruiser is in the hospital with critical but non life-threatening injuries.
“She is a hero. She stopped a man on a rampage,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the stabbing happened early Thursday at the Hollow Water First Nation, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of the provincial capital, Winnipeg.
Lasson said police were called to the reserve after reports of an assault and later stabbings at two different locations. The injured range in age between 18 and 60. He said the victims and the suspect all knew each other.
Lasson said the suspect was known to police.
Health officials said two victims were airlifted to Winnipeg, while others were taken by ground ambulance. A code orange, which means a sudden influx of patients, was declared at the largest hospital in Winnipeg.
The Mounties described the attack as a “senseless act of violence,” adding there was no longer a risk to public safety. Officers will remain in the community and on a highway to the south near Black River First Nation.
“Our officers are gathering information to determine what exactly occurred this morning and we will be providing a more detailed update early this afternoon,” RCMP said in a statement.
Hollow Water First Nation is an Anishinaabe community of roughly 530 people situated along the east shore of Lake Winnipeg.
The attack comes three years to the day after a mass stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, which left 11 people dead and 17 injured.
