Myles Sanderson arrested, suspect in Saskatchewan stabbing rampage taken into custody

Myles Sanderson, wanted in a stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan, has been found and taken into police custody.

Sanderson, wanted since Sunday, was located and taken into custody near Rosthern, Sask., at about 3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, RCMP say. Rosthern is about an hour southwest of the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, where a slew of stabbings beginning in the early hours Sunday left a total of 11 people dead.

Brian “Buggy” Burns got the call just hours after he sat through an emotional press conference where his family spoke of the “heroes” lost to violence in the early hours Sunday, including his wife and son.

He drove out to where the RCMP had made the arrest, Burns said in a message to the Star. A photo he took shows a half-dozen squad cars clustered in a ditch alongside a highway.

“I shook their hands said you guys did a great job from start to finish,” he said. His wife, Bonnie Goodvoice-Burns, 48, had died trying to protect their children. His son Greg “Jonesy” Burns, 28, was also killed. His younger son was stabbed in the neck, but lived.

The news brought badly needed relief to a tightknit community where few have been untouched by the violence. For four days the police hunted for Sanderson.

“Everybody’s relieved and happy, crying tears of happiness,” said Sandra Burns, who lost a second cousin and close friend, and also had a coworker injured.

“We couldn’t sleep at night, we were all on edge.”

On Wednesday afternoon Saskatchewan RCMP had issued an emergency alert for an individual believed to be armed with a knife in a stolen vehicle about an hour southwest of the site of Sunday’s stabbing rampage.

In an update pushed to local phones, RCMP said the warning was in effect for the Wakaw and Prince Albert area, and may be related to the dangerous-person alert issued Sunday.

The person was reported to be travelling on Cemetery Road in Wakaw, Sask., in a 2008 white Chevy Avalanche with the licence plate 953 LPL, which was reported stolen just after 2 p.m. local time.

Anyone in Wakaw was urged to seek shelter, be careful of letting anyone inside and not approach anyone suspicious. It was the second shelter-in-place order for rural Saskatchewan in as many days as police continued the manhunt.

At the bar at the Wakaw Inn in the middle of town, bartender Brandy Beauregard said that as soon as staff had gotten the alert they locked the doors, and as they waited for answers, a handful of guests and patrons were waiting inside with a fresh round of drinks — mostly vodkas, she said.