WINNIPEG — A brother and sister are dead and several others injured, including a Mountie, after a mass stabbing Thursday on a small, tight-knit First Nation northeast of Winnipeg.

“I ask the community to pray and support one another,” Hollow Water First Nation Chief Larry Barker said at a news conference at RCMP regional headquarters in Winnipeg, his voice halting on occasion.

Police said they were still piecing together what happened after the violence erupted early in the morning in the community of about 500 people.

RCMP received a call around 3:45 a.m. about an assault, and emergency medical services responded. Two hours later, Mounties got word of a stabbing, said Supt. Rob Lasson.

Officers from multiple detachments responded to the First Nation located 200 kilometres from Winnipeg. Eight adults were found in two homes, severely injured with stab wounds, he said.

The woman who died was 18. Her 26-year-old brother, Tyrone Simard, was the suspect in the stabbings and fled the community in a stolen vehicle, Lasson said.

On a highway south of the First Nation, Lasson said Simard collided with a vehicle driven by an officer who was responding to the attack and heading north, he added. The officer suffered critical injuries and was taken to hospital but was expected to make a full recovery.

“She stopped a man on a rampage, so on behalf of the province of Manitoba I thank her,” said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

The other victims, some in critical condition, were taken to hospital via helicopter and ground ambulance. The Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, the province’s largest hospital, declared a code orange — a move used when a sudden and large influx of patients is expected.

Mounties said officers continued to investigate and were going from house to house making sure there were no other victims.

Simard was known to police, RCMP said, without going into detail.

The attack happened three years to the day after a mass stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and the nearby community of Weldon, which left 11 people dead and 17 injured. The suspect in that attack later died in police custody.

RCMP said there was no evidence Thursday of any connection.

“There’s nothing to indicate that right now. That will be looked at for sure,” Lasson said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.