A mass stabbing in a rural Indigenous community in Canada resulted in the death of an 18-year-old woman and injured seven others, according to authorities.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the suspect was also killed in the attack on a First Nations village in Manitoba on Thursday.
The incident occurred in Hollow Water First Nation, approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Winnipeg, Canada.
According to authorities, the suspect was fleeing the scene when he was killed in a vehicle collision with an RCMP officer who was badly injured.
One victim’s family reported that he was woken up in the middle of the night and stabbed in the torso.
According to investigators, the woman killed was the suspect’s sister, and the male was previously “known to police.”
In a news conference, the federal police force stated that officers were on the scene at the Hollow Water First Nation and were “still going house to house to ensure that the community is safe and that there are no other victims.”
“Our sincere condolences to everyone within the community of Hollow Water First Nation and to everyone who has been affected by this senseless act of violence,” the RCMP said.
Police claimed they were first called to the community at 03:45 local time on Thursday, after a tribal security officer reported an attack 30 minutes before.
When police arrived, they were notified of a second crime scene. Investigators found stabbing victims at both locations.
Supt. Rob Lasson of the RCMP’s serious crimes unit declined to reveal any suspected reason for the attack but stated that the “victims were all known to each other in the community.”
Tyrone Simard, 26, fled in a stolen automobile and appeared to be driving towards Winnipeg when he collided with the police vehicle.
According to Lasson, the unnamed policewoman was brought to the hospital with “critical but non-life-threatening injuries” and is expected to recover completely.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew applauded the officer, stating, “She stopped a man on a rampage.”
Larry Barker, Chief of the Hollow Water First Nation, also addressed the news conference, his voice shaking with emotion.
“I ask the community to pray and support one another out there,” Chief Barker said.
“The families were very close to me, and my deepest condolences to them,” he continued.
The Anishinaabe community numbers a few hundred persons.
According to CBC News, family members recognized one of the victims in the attack as Michael Raven.
His children said that he was stabbed in the lung by someone who broke into his home while he was sleeping.
“The community is all shaken up from it. It is not something that happens in Hollow Water,” his daughter, Christy Williams, told CBC.
The attack occurred on the third anniversary of a mass stabbing in James Smith Cree Nation and the surrounding community of Weldon, Saskatchewan, that killed 11 people and injured many more.
The suspect in the attack died shortly after police apprehended him after a three-day manhunt.
