On Thursday, retired RCMP staff sergeant Darren Simons — who was detachment commander in Melfort on Sept. 4, 2022 — testified.
Warning: This story contains disturbing details and descriptions of violence some readers may find upsetting.
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MELFORT — The fourth day of the coroner’s inquest into a 2022 mass killing in Saskatchewan began with more testimony about the RCMP’s actions before, during and after the attacks.
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RCMP Staff Sgt. Darren Simons, now retired, was in command of the Melfort detachment on Sept. 4, 2022, when Myles Sanderson killed 11 people and injured 17 others during a stabbing rampage on James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon.
Simons was posted to Melfort only weeks before the tragedy.
“IT JUST DIDN’T SEEM REAL”
Simons said he awoke that Sunday morning to a phone call telling him about two reports of stabbings on James Smith Cree Nation. A third report came through while he was on the line.
“OK.” Simons told the dispatcher. “I’m gonna roll.”
He raced to the detachment, then to James Smith Cree Nation, stopping on the way to pick up food for the officers already at the scene.
By the time he got to the First Nation, survivors and the injured were gathering at the band office, which had been turned into an impromptu triage centre. People were bleeding from their heads, necks and shoulders, he recalled.
“I saw numerous wounded individuals lined up, stacked up, against the band office. Some were laying down. Some were seated. There were several ambulances, STARS Air Ambulance, medical personnel.
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“It just didn’t seem real.”
Simons said he served in Alberta during the 2005 mass shooting in Mayerthorpe, and had always thought it was going to be “the tragedy that I dealt with my career,” but the aftermath of the attacks at JSCN was like nothing he had ever seen before.
“This was the worst thing I had seen in my career,” he testified.
When he was told how many people were injured, and how many were dead, Simons said “it was hard for me to fathom and believe.”
He met up with Const. Tanner Maynard, who had taken command when he and Const. David Miller arrived as first responders.
“This was an extremely chaotic situation,” Simons recalled. “(Maynard) had papers on his lap. His phones were going off; my phones were going off. He was trying to figure out where we need to send members.”
While Simons was now the senior officer at the scene, he chose to leave Maynard in command.
“I wanted to take over; I knew that was my role,” he said. “But I realized that would be like jumping on a moving train (and) I didn’t think that was the thing to do at the time.”
“EXTREMELY PROUD OF THE MEMBERS I WORKED WITH”
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As the scope of the tragedy became clear, police began to converge on James Smith Cree Nation from all over Saskatchewan and beyond — without even being asked — to help the community and relieve the first responders.
“I am extremely proud of the members I worked with,” said Simons. “The expression I like saying is that those members stood on their heads and did the impossible, in an impossible situation.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be associated with them.”
Hundreds of RCMP officers “dropped everything and came out to Melfort, ready to assist,” he told the inquest.
“This is the character of the people we have in the RCMP.”
Various provincial officers, including conservation officers, also came out. As the day unfolded, having provincial officers on-site freed up more RCMP members to continue the search for Myles Sanderson.
“The value of those members that day cannot be measured,” said Simons.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of self-harm or experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact Crisis Services Canada (1-833-456-4566), Saskatoon Mobile Crisis (306-933-6200), Prince Albert Mobile Crisis Unit (306-764-1011), Regina Mobile Crisis Services (306-525-5333) or the Hope for Wellness Help Line, which provides culturally competent crisis intervention counselling support for Indigenous peoples (1-855-242-3310).
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