Police received the first report of a stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation at 5:40 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday morning, and within minutes several more calls came in reporting other stabbings throughout the community, police said.
Within hours, the situation developed into a mass stabbing event with at least 25 victims, 10 of whom died, police said.
Three helicopters from STARS Air Ambulance were dispatched to James Smith Cree Nation during the attack, company spokesperson Mark Oddan told CNN. The first crew to arrive jumped into triage the victims and the second aircraft brought a physician to help with triage and lead the emergency response, he said.
The helicopter crews took some victims to the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon and several other patients were brought to local hospitals by ground ambulances, Oddan said. He was not able to provide details on the patients or their conditions.
Multiple dangerous persons alerts were issued by police over the course of the morning, expanding across the Saskatchewan province and into neighboring Manitoba and Alberta.
Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino asked residents to take shelter.
“To everyone in Saskatchewan, especially those in proximity to the James Smith Cree First Nation area, please shelter in place and stay safe,” he tweeted.
Authorities have identified 13 separate scenes where the attacks took place.
There may be additional victims who were injured and transported themselves to the hospital, police said, urging possible victims to contact law enforcement.
“Our thoughts are with the many victims deceased and injured, their family, friends and community. It is horrific what has occurred in our province today,” Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Rhonda Blackmore said.
Here’s where the attack occurred in Saskatchewan:
