WARNING: Some content may be distressing to readers
As he tried to put mass killer Myles Sanderson in the back of a police cruiser, the arresting RCMP constable felt the mass killer’s body stop, tense up and start to shake.
“I could see it in his eyes, they were rolling in the back of his head. From my past experiences, I knew that he was dying,” Const. Bill Rowley told the jury at a public coroner’s inquest in Saskatoon on Wednesday.
On Sept. 4, Sanderson killed 11 people — 10 from his home community of James Smith Cree Nation and another from the nearby village of Weldon. The inquest is meant to establish when, where and how Sanderson died.
Rowley was among the officers involved in the high-speed police pursuit down a major Saskatchewan highway following a three-day manhunt for Sanderson, 32.
On Sept. 7, police tracked him down just outside of Rosthern, Sask., initiating the chase that would ultimately lead to Sanderson’s arrest. Shortly after being cuffed, Sanderson went into what police called medical distress. About an hour later, he was declared dead in hospital.
Rowley recalled the moments leading up to the arrest: speeding along Highway 11 up to about 167 km/h in a “harrowing” pursuit, following Sanderson after he was forced into a ditch by another officer, and instructing him to show his hands.
One officer yelled that Sanderson had a knife. Rowley said he was taught to assume that if the suspect has one weapon, they could have another.
When he opened the door to the truck, he said he expected Sanderson would exit wielding a gun or a knife, leading to a subsequent shootout.
“I was under the expectation that he was coming out to finish some unfinished business,” Rowley said.
Rowley and another officer pulled Sanderson out of the stolen white Chevrolet Avalanche, cuffed and searched him.
Sanderson then went into what Rowley called “medical distress,” bleeding from his nose and frothing blood from his mouth.
When asked whether he took anything, Sanderson’s muffled responses sounded like “meth” to Rowley.
Sanderson was given first aid and two shots of naloxone, a medication that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan’s chief forensic pathologist testified that Sanderson died of an acute cocaine overdose.
Sanderson killed 11 people at James Smith Cree Nation and the neighbouring village of Weldon in September 2022. A public inquest into his death began Monday with the goal to find out when, where and why Sanderson died.
Rowley’s testimony is a part of a week-long inquest into the death of Sanderson, a legislated requirement given he died in police custody.
Arresting officers and front-line workers who provided Sanderson with medical care on the side of the highway are scheduled to provide evidence Wednesday.
At the conclusion of the inquest, six jury members will be tasked with concluding when, how and where Sanderson died, and have an opportunity to give recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future. A separate inquest into the massacre was held last month, examining each of the killings and issuing more than two dozen recommendations.
Support is available for people affected by this tragedy. The Hope for Wellness hotline offers immediate help to Indigenous people across Canada. Mental health counselling and crisis support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
You can talk to a mental health professional via Wellness Together Canada by calling 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth or 741741 for adults. It is free and confidential.
Talking Stick is a Saskatchewan-based free anonymous chat platform that connects people seeking emotional support to a trained Indigenous peer advocate 24/7.
