One person was killed and at least six others injured after a mass stabbing in a remote Indigenous community in Canada, according to news agency AFP. The suspect also died during Thursday’s incident, which took place in Hollow Water First Nation, a small Anishinaabe community in the province of Manitoba.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) called the stabbing a “mass casualty” event. Hollow Water is located around 200 kilometres (124 miles) north-east of Winnipeg.
MULTIPLE VICTIMS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
According to Shared Health, the provincial health authority, eight victims were transported by either ambulance or air ambulance to nearby hospitals. They arrived with injuries of varying severity.
Stars Air Ambulance confirmed it responded to the emergency and flew two patients to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. Local authorities have not released further details about the conditions of those injured.
Manitoba RCMP said a heavy police presence would remain in Hollow Water throughout the day but assured residents that there was no ongoing threat to public safety.
“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 in a statement as quoted by BBC.
In a letter posted online, the Hollow Water chief and council extended condolences to families affected by the tragedy. The community, home to only a few hundred people, has been left reeling.
One of the victims was identified by family members as Michael Raven. His relatives told CBC News that he was stabbed in the lung while sleeping at home after an intruder broke in.
“The community is all shaken up from it. It is not something that happens in Hollow Water,” his daughter Christy Williams told CBC.
The stabbings come exactly three years after another mass stabbing in James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby village of Weldon in Saskatchewan, where 11 people were killed and several more injured. That suspect died after being taken into custody following a three-day manhunt.
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With inputs from agencies