RCMP officers attend one of the scenes of a mass stabbing at Hollow Water First Nation in Manitoba on Sept. 4, 2025.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
A woman has been killed and the suspect, her brother, is dead after multiple stabbings in Hollow Water First Nation, a small Manitoba community on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg.
At least seven people remain in hospital with serious injuries, Manitoba RCMP said late Thursday afternoon. The suspect, Tyrone Simard, 26, knew all of the victims. He was killed after allegedly fleeing from the area in a stolen vehicle, succumbing to his injuries from a collision with a police cruiser.
Police declined to name the suspect’s 18-year-old sister, who community members told The Globe and Mail was Marina Simard. She was living in a home where her brother occasionally stayed.
RCMP also declined to identify the police officer who collided with the suspect, telling reporters at a press conference in Winnipeg that she is in hospital with critical though non-life-threatening injuries.
A man killed his sister and injured seven others in a mass stabbing at a First Nation reserve in Manitoba before dying in a collision with a police car, authorities said Thursday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police identified the attacker as 26-year-old Tyrone Simard and said he killed his 18-year-old sister.
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RCMP Superintendent Rob Lasson cautioned that there could be other victims, as investigators remain in the community, “going from house to house,” to determine what exactly happened.
He said at least seven stabbing victims, ranging in age from 18 to 60, were found in multiple residences in Hollow Water that are now considered crime scenes.
“The information is changing and evolving as we speak,” said Supt. Lasson, the officer in charge of the Manitoba RCMP’s major crime services, which is leading the investigation. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy, commander of the force, called the incident “a senseless act of violence.”
Police believe there is no continuing risk to public safety.
Roughly 200 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, Hollow Water is an Anishinaabe community with a registered on-reserve population of around 1,100 as of last month. The rural, tranquil region largely relies on hunting, fishing and wild-rice harvesting, with an all-weather road for reliable access into the area.
At 3:44 a.m. on Thursday, a First Nation safety officer made the initial report to RCMP, advising about an assault in the area around 30 minutes prior. Emergency medical services were requested, though the suspect had fled, Mounties later said.
A couple of hours later, just before 6 a.m., RCMP received a call about a stabbing in the community. Officers from several detachments were dispatched, locating multiple people with stab wounds upon arrival at a residence.
Shortly after, police found another residential property with additional victims.
Plans were arranged to transport all of the victims to the province’s largest hospital, the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.
Then, at 6:53 a.m., RCMP confirmed that a police cruiser, heading north to the scene, crashed with the vehicle that the suspect was driving south on a provincial road.
At 8:14 a.m., the Health Sciences Centre declared a code orange, which is called when staff need to prepare for a mass casualty event with an influx of patients.
Shawn Young, the hospital’s chief operating officer, said six of the victims were sent by ambulance while another two were transported by STARS helicopters. Save for the police officer, he said all other victims at his hospital are being treated for “penetrating injuries,” two of which required immediate surgery. At least one victim is largely stable and has been moved to another hospital just outside Winnipeg.
“They went to the operating rooms pretty quickly on arrival,” Dr. Young told The Globe. “One is now out of the operating room and in stable condition, and the other one remains in the operating room still. We’ll have to update on their status later.”
The suspect in a mass stabbing event was killed after the vehicle he was driving collided with an RCMP vehicle in Hollow Water First Nation.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
He said that the hospital’s emergency code was called off at 10:51 a.m.
Later on Thursday, as Manitoba RCMP provided the latest details about the stabbing attack at its Winnipeg headquarters, the reception area of the Hollow Water First Nation’s band office was silent while community members watched the police livestream.
Some members wiped their tears as Larry Barker, Hollow Water’s chief, spoke emotionally to reporters alongside police. “Support one another,” Mr. Barker said, asking everyone to pray for the recovery of his community members.
“I’ll pray as hard as I can.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew hugged Mr. Barker, adding that he believes the police officer who collided with the suspect is a hero: “She stopped a man on a rampage, so on behalf of the province of Manitoba, I thank her.”
Thursday’s incident in Hollow Water occurred on the third anniversary of the 2022 stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan’s James Smith Cree Nation, where Mounties captured a suspect who later died in custody after killing 11 people and injuring 17 others.
Last year, an internal review determined that there was nothing RCMP in that case could do to significantly alter the outcome of what was one of Canada’s deadliest mass killings.
Supt. Lasson told reporters the anniversary is “merely a coincidence,” and that Mr. Simard, who was previously known to police because of other investigations, is not believed to be inspired by the 2022 killings.
However, he added, the RCMP learned from the James Smith stabbings, which helped them respond to Thursday’s casualties. “One of the recommendations out of that was that we practise, and we practise all the time,” he said.
“In this incident, I can confidently say that we responded appropriately and properly.”
Mr. Kinew said the tragic situation is personal for many Manitobans, including his friend, Ian Bushie, the province’s Minister of Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures, who is a Hollow Water band member.
The Premier plans to visit the community later this week.
“This is a time of year where we’re sending our kids back to school,” he said. “And instead we have a community that is preparing to bury its young.”
While he spoke, in Hollow Water, a single-family detached house with grey vinyl was blocked off with yellow police tape surrounding the perimeter of the yard, full of patchy grass and cattails in the ditch. A walkway made of pallet boards led up to wooden front steps, where RCMP investigators continued to process one of multiple crime scenes on the rainy day.
Nearby, community members lit a sacred fire outside the local healing centre, rallying together in support.