Closed my theatre tonight due to serial killers

[Frank Cox]

My theatre is closed tonight due to serial killers.

Now there's a sentence that I never thought I'd be typing, and no that's not a joke. I guess if you do this stuff for long enough everything happens at least once.

I don't think it will be wise to be the last place open with a light on in downtown Melville tonight.

What a way to get a night off.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...ings-1.6572464

Melfort RCMP have issued a provincewide dangerous persons alert after multiple people were stabbed in the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Sask.

RCMP said in a press conference at 3:40 CT that they found 10 people deceased and at least 15 people have been hospitalized. RCMP said they found 13 incident locations in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon.

"There maybe additional injured victims who transported themselves to various hospitals," Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said.

"We are currently actively looking for it, dedicating maximum resources to this."

RCMP said they received a report that the two suspects, identified as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson, may have been travelling in the Arcola Avenue area in Regina. Regina Police said the suspects were seen around 11:20 a.m.

An RCMP alert was first issued at 7:12 a.m. CT Sunday and has since had several updates. RCMP said two male suspects are believed to be in a black Nissan Rogue with Saskatchewan licence plate 119 MPI. As the suspects may have access to a vehicle, the RCMP have expanded the alert provincewide.

With the suspects at large, Blackmore said they had also asked for the alert to be extended to Manitoba and Alberta.
damien-and-myles-sanderson.jpg

[Jim Cassedy]

Well, that sux, but better safe than sorry.
> The theater I usually work at required me to take some mandatory
"active shooter engagement" training a couple of months ago.

[Lyle Romer]

Well, that sux, but better safe than sorry.
> The theater I usually work at required me to take some mandatory
"active shooter engagement" training a couple of months ago.

If the training didn't include tactical firearms training as well as if the theatre doesn't have armed employees, the "active shooter engagement" should be to get out as fast as you can while dialing 911 on your cell phone and having a way to alert the customers to get out as quickly as possible.

[Marcel Birgelen]

My theatre is closed tonight due to serial killers.

Now there's a sentence that I never thought I'd be typing, and no that's not a joke. I guess if you do this stuff for long enough everything happens at least once.

I don't think it will be wise to be the last place open with a light on in downtown Melville tonight.

What a way to get a night off.

You're international news tonight... what a strange world we live in...

From what I read, you took the decision to remain closed yourself? Or was that mandated by the local authorities?

[Frank Cox]

The RCMP are requesting people to remain in secure locations and not to pick up hitchhikers and so on. There's no official order (yet) to close anything but a lot of places closed anyway. They're trying to discourage people from doing a lot of unnecessary running around.

There are apparently halt-and-identify-yourself checkstops on the highways but I haven't been past my back yard at all today so I don't know anything about that firsthand.

As you said, we're international news. Is there a word that's stronger than unbelievable? I'll take two, please.

I sent my nightly ticket reporting email to comscore and said, "Closed tonight due to serial killers". Bet that'll make someone's eyes bug out.

[Lyle Romer]

The RCMP are requesting people to remain in secure locations and not to pick up hitchhikers and so on. There's no official order (yet) to close anything but a lot of places closed anyway. They're trying to discourage people from doing a lot of unnecessary running around.

There are apparently halt-and-identify-yourself checkstops on the highways but I haven't been past my back yard at all today so I don't know anything about that firsthand.

As you said, we're international news. Is there a word that's stronger than unbelievable? I'll take two, please.

I sent my nightly ticket reporting email to comscore and said, "Closed tonight due to serial killers". Bet that'll make someone's eyes bug out.

Hopefully they catch the suspects soon. Crazy that this kind of senseless killing makes its way all the way to your neck of the woods.

[Marcel Birgelen]

One of the two brothers has been found dead, apparently killed by his own brother... The remaining one apparently already had 59 prior convictions to his name and not just for shoplifting or peeing in public, but the kind of stuff you'd espect someone to actually spend some years in an institution separated from the general public...

[Frank Cox]

He's a lovely fellow indeed. Apparently he's been on the "wanted" list since last May but nobody was bothering to look for him.

A fugitive wanted in a deadly stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan has a nearly two-decade long criminal record and a propensity for violence when intoxicated, a parole board document says.
The Parole Board of Canada document from February says Myles Sanderson told the board that regular use of drugs and hard alcohol would make him “lose (his) mind” and get angry.
“Your criminal history is very concerning, including the use of violence and weapons related to your index offences, and your history of domestic violence,” said the document obtained by The Canadian Press.
RCMP have not said what motivated the attacks on Sunday that left 10 people dead and 18 injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby village of Weldon, northeast of Saskatoon. Police believe some victims were targeted but others were chosen at random.
Sanderson’s brother Damien Sanderson, also a suspect in the slayings, was found dead Monday morning on the First Nation and became the 11th fatality.
Police continue to search for Myles Sanderson and a warrant has been issued for him on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and break and enter.
Sanderson received statutory release from prison in August 2021, but it was revoked about four months later because the board said he failed to communicate with his parole supervisor.
In the document, the board said it decided to reinstate his statutory release with a reprimand.
“It is the Board’s opinion that you will not present an undue risk to society if released on statutory release and that your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen.”
Sanderson was serving his first federal sentence of more than four years, four months and 19 days for a slew of offences including assault, assault with a weapon, assaulting a peace officer and robbery. In total, the document says, he has 59 criminal convictions.
Sanderson’s childhood was marked by violence, neglect and substance abuse and led to a “cycle of substance abuse, seeking out negative peers and violent behavior,” the document said. He lived between his father’s home in an urban centre and grandparents’ house on a First Nation. There was violence and abuse in both households, it said.
Sanderson started drinking and smoking marijuana at around age 12 to cope with problems, the document said. Cocaine followed soon after.
“You can be easily angered when drunk, but are a different person when sober,” the decision said.
The board said many of his crimes happened when he was in a state of intoxication.
In 2017, Sanderson went to a home where his ex-girlfriend and two children lived. The children were rushed upstairs into a bathroom and put into a tub for protection, the document said.
“You went upstairs and acted in a threatening manner, talked about the gang, and punched a hole in the bathroom door, frightening the children,” the decision said.
Sanderson fled before police arrived but a few days later he tried to fight a First Nation band store employee and threatened to kill him and burn down his parents’ house, the document said.
A few months later, Sanderson threatened an accomplice and forced him to rob a fast-food restaurant by hitting him in the head with a firearm and stomping on him, the decision said. Sanderson watched the robbery from outside.
In 2018, the board said Sanderson was drinking at a home and got angry with people he was with. It said he stabbed two of them with a fork, then attacked a man who was walking nearby and beat him until the man lost consciousness in a ditch.
Sanderson was located at his partner’s home two months later. During the arrest, he kicked an officer in the face and on the top of the head repeatedly, the decision said.
The board said Sanderson seemed to have maintained sobriety and obtained employment. He was taking part in cultural ceremonies and had found a home for his family. The board said it appeared he was making good progress on reintegrating with society.
The board said if he stayed sober his risk would be manageable. He was released with conditions to not contact his partner or children, except when necessary for parenting responsibilities.
In May, a Crime Stoppers bulletin was issued for Sanderson, warning he was unlawfully at large.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations on Monday urged anyone with information about his location to contact police.
Uncertainty about the suspect’s whereabouts is causing immeasurable stress among Indigenous families, friends and neighbours, said Chief Bobby Cameron.
“They have already gone through enough,” Cameron said. “We must do everything we can to help end this tragedy without any more loss of life.”

[Leo Enticknap]

If the training didn't include tactical firearms training as well as if the theatre doesn't have armed employees, the "active shooter engagement" should be to get out as fast as you can while dialing 911 on your cell phone and having a way to alert the customers to get out as quickly as possible.

Agreed completely: the "engagement" should be to avoid engaging at all costs, unless you happen to be a law enforcement professional and armed to the teeth.

I suspect it's just a poor choice of words on the part of training vendor, though. Many years ago, a British city council placed a now infamous ad in a local newspaper, looking to hire a "domestic violence coordinator." This led to speculation that the duties of the post included providing training on how to beat up your spouse, etc. etc.

[Frank Cox]

Just got this notice on my phone:

Dangerous Persons Alert issued by Melfort RCMP: Myles Sanderson was located and taken into police custody near Rosthern, SK at approximately 3:30 p.m. today. There is no longer a risk to public safety relating to this investigation. As updates become available, they will be posted to the Saskatchewan RCMP website

[Mike Blakesley]

Have you been closed this whole time? (Not that it probably mattered much, the way things are at this moment)

[Frank Cox]

No, I just closed for one single Sunday night when all of this stuff was happening around here.

The police were not sure where these guys were but thought they might be in this area (or any of a lot of other areas).

The following day it was somehow determined that they were either in Regina or in northern Saskatchewan and neither of those places is right here.

Then one turned up dead and the other got arrested (and died) so the problem was solved by mid-week anyway.maxresdefault.jpg

[Frank Cox]

I got an emergency alert on my phone this morning.

https://leaderpost.com/news/crime/me...s-person-alert

The mayor of Melville said there is a heavy police presence in the small city after a homicide occurred there Wednesday.

“I know the schools are in a hold-and-secure situation right now,” Walter Streelasky said, not long before the lunch hour.

The mayor went on to say that city offices are closed.

“We’ve asked our staff to stay indoors and so on,” he said.

“I encourage our citizens to be very careful, very careful, very cautious, stay indoors.”

The incident, which prompted a dangerous person alert to be issued by the RCMP at 10:35 a.m. Wednesday, setting off alarms in a section of the province that included Regina and Yorkton, occurred at the Melville Country Inn, where the police presence was centred, according to the mayor.

He said he had no details on who had died or who was involved.

“The RCMP are hard at work trying to resolve this,” he said.

Police are searching for two possible suspects, according to the brief information included in the alert and subsequent news release.

According to the alert, police believe two suspects were involved in a “homicide involving a firearm,” but their location and direction of travel is currently unknown.

As of 12:30 Wednesday afternoon, the RCMP has not yet provided an update.

Police located an abandoned vehicle on Highway 10 near Duff that may have been involved.

The RCMP warned against picking up hitchhikers and encouraged the public to “remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to police.”

Melville is 150 km northeast of Regina.

Duff is 22 km southwest of Melville, along Highway 10, which runs toward Regina.

According to Melville Fire and Rescue, its firefighters were dispatched at 9:44 a.m. to respond to a vehicle on fire on Highway 10, on the west side of Duff.

A representative said the a command vehicle and a pumper truck with a crew of six attended the scene where a Dodge Ram was found burning. The RCMP was on scene and the fire department was made aware there is a possibility the vehicle was involved in the incident in Melville.

Once the fire was extinguished, the crew was released from the scene and sent back to base, the representative said.

The Regina police are aware of the situation, and has forwarded the alert to all its cars, according to spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich.

She said that currently the information available to the Regina Police Service (RPS) is limited, and not much is “actionable” within the city at the moment. But she added that officers will be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour while the RPS awaits further details from the RCMP, and the city police are ready to assist if required.

AGAIN!

Before this summer the last actual murder in Melville was about 23 years ago and that was a domestic thing where a guy killed his wife and burned the house down.

Now this is the second time in two months!

(The Melville Country Inn is about three blocks down the street from my theatre.)
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EDIT:
RCMP have now cancelled the warning saying that they have determined that the homicide was not random and there is no danger to public safety.

Melville has always been a place where nothing ever happens. I like it that way and don't need crap like this down the street.