Mountie Describes Horrific Scene of Mass Stabbing at Saskatchewan Inquest

Darryl Burns (R), whose sister Gloria Burns was killed during the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Sask., mass stabbings in 2022, and Stewart Head, whose brother was also killed, speak to media at the public coroner's inquest in Melfort, Sask., on Jan. 17, 2024. The Canadian Press/Liam Richards

The former top officer of an RCMP detachment has told a coroner’s inquest that the mass killing on a Saskatchewan First Nation was the worst thing he’s seen in his 33-year career.

Darren Simons, now a retired staff sergeant, was detachment commander for the Melfort RCMP when 11 people were killed and 17 were injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon, northeast of Saskatoon, on Sept. 4, 2022.