SASKATOON – Update: The 24-year-old man arrested late Wednesday afternoon in connection to the city’s sixth homicide has been charged with second-degree murder. He will appear in Saskatoon court Thursday afternoon.
The family of the deceased victim has given permission to the police to release his name. Thirty-five-year-old Damien Sanderson was pronounced deceased at hospital.
Three residences were searched in relation to the homicide investigation; 200 block of Avenue S Â鶹´«Ã½AV, 200 block Avenue W Â鶹´«Ã½AV, and 300 block Avenue U Â鶹´«Ã½AV. In total, police seized four firearms, one replica firearm, two bulletproof vests, and ammunition.
Several people were taken into custody from the address on Avenue W Â鶹´«Ã½AV but no charges have been laid in connection to the homicide investigation.
Early in the homicide investigation, members of the Guns & Gangs Unit observed two people leaving the nearby residence on Avenue W Â鶹´«Ã½AV in a vehicle. They fled from police and were later arrested in a rural area near Beardy’s & Okemasis’ Cree Nation. Upon further investigation, they were determined to have not been involved in the homicide, but the driver, a 39-year-old man, is charged with evading police, dangerous driving, unlawful confinement, possession of stolen property, and possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl. The 20-year-old female passenger was released without charges.
Original story: A fatal shooting in Saskatoon Wednesday morning prompted the lockdown of a school, a dangerous person’s alert, 15 people taken into custody from inside a home in the 200 block of Avenue W Â鶹´«Ã½AV, two arrested near Beardy’s & Okemasis’ Cree Nation, and an eighteenth person apprehended on Idylwyld Drive.
The Saskatoon Police Service [SPS] Guns and Gangs Unit investigation started near a school in the 200 block of Ave. S Â鶹´«Ã½AV and went to a house in the 200 block of Ave. W. Â鶹´«Ã½AV in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.
WATCH: Kevin Mulligan witnessed the high-risk takedown by Saskatoon Police Service Guns & Gang Unit after a fatal shooting Wednesday morning.
SPS say that they responded to the 200 block of Avenue S Â鶹´«Ã½AV after getting a report of a man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
The police investigation led officers to a home in the 200 block of Avenue W. Â鶹´«Ã½AV and members of the SPS Guns & Gangs Unit saw two people believed to be involved in the shooting leave the home and get into a truck. A traffic stop was attempted but the truck started driving erratically and at dangerous speeds as it left the city headed north on Highway 11.
The truck was last seen in a rural area near Beardy’s & Okemasis’ Cree Nation, and two people were observed getting out and fleeing on foot. They were believed to be armed so the Saskatchewan RCMP issued a Dangerous Persons Alert for the Beardy’s & Okemasis' Cree Nation and surrounding area. It was cancelled shortly after when police arrested the two suspects without incident.
The SPS Tactical Support Unit helped take 15 people into custody outside the home in the 200 block of Ave. W. Â鶹´«Ã½AV.
Police released a video of 24-year-old Shane Thomas, who fled on foot through a park in the 200 block of Ave. S Â鶹´«Ã½AV, and said he was a suspect in the murder. He was arrested without incident in the 300 block of Idylwyld Drive at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Police say that they believe Thomas was known to the victim. They haven't identified the victim yet at the family's request.
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