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The manhunt for murder suspect Myles Sanderson entered its fourth day Wednesday and there’s still no trace of the 32-year-old man.
“We had a couple of updates in the night where we were hopeful that we might have had a good lead, but each time, it’s turning out not to be something that has (resulted) in us locating him,” Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray said on Wednesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show.
Sanderson is the prime suspect in the killings of 10 people Sunday — nine on the James Smith Cree Nation and one in the community of Weldon.
Another 17 people were injured during the rampage. According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, three of those people are in critical condition.
The search for Sanderson moved into Regina on Sunday after the vehicle in which he was believed to be travelling was spotted on Arcola Avenue in the city’s east end.
While Regina police still think that tip was credible, Bray issued a statement on social media Tuesday saying investigators think Sanderson may not be in the city anymore.
On Wednesday, Bray said that belief stemmed from a tip the RCMP received that Sanderson was on the James Smith Cree Nation. The Mounties searched the area and didn’t find the suspect, but that led Regina police to suggest Sanderson had left Regina.
“It’s that (search coming up empty) coupled with the fact that now it has been a great deal of time since he has been in our city,” Bray said. “We can’t say definitively that he’s not here, but just more and more as time passes, it’s seeming possible that he may not be in our community any longer.”
Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore — the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP — told Gormley guest host Taylor MacPherson on Wednesday the information on which the Mounties acted Tuesday was likely a case of mistaken identity.
But the RCMP will continue to follow every lead, and it’ll have the Regina Police Service’s help every step of the way. Bray said some Regina investigators will continue to work with the RCMP in the Queen City.
“At this point, we’re being cautious,” Bray said. “You don’t want to let your guard down completely as a community to say he’s not here, because we don’t have that information either.
“We’re just keeping our eyes open and really following the lead of the RCMP but working diligently to still try to locate this fellow.”
To that end, Bray said the Regina police’s investigative team “will just keep digging deeper” on every lead it gets.
The chief also admitted there’s some frustration among police over false information that has been spread on social media and the impact it’s having on the investigation.
“The fact that we’ve had such a void of new, credible information lends itself to people filling in the blanks,” he admitted. “I think we’re all guilty of doing that — conversations happening around coffee tables and over water coolers in the province right now.
“People are speculating where he might be, what happened and sometimes that makes its way — well, not sometimes — often it makes its way on social media and it’s challenging because people read social media and many take it to be true.
“That’s why there’s the need for constant, regular, factual communication and anytime there’s new information, we’re getting it out.”
Review planned
Parole documents show Sanderson has a record that includes 59 criminal convictions. He was granted statutory release after his latest stint in prison, but has been wanted on a warrant since late May for being unlawfully at large.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said he has spoken with the parole board, which he said will be reviewing its decision to release Sanderson.
“We do need to take a very careful look as to what occurred in the situation and when, and we need to be very transparent about that review,” Mendicino told reporters. “I am assured that the Parole Board of Canada will be undertaking an investigation of the decision.”
The minister said there will be “an appropriate time and a place to review policy and resourcing and we need to embrace that review.”
— With files from The Canadian Press