What we know about the deadly bank robbery in Saanich, B.C.
CBC
Police are still investigating an attempted robbery at a Bank of Montreal in Saanich, B.C., late Tuesday morning.
On Thursday afternoon, they gave an update with a few more details, confirming when the first 911 call came in and the make of the suspects' vehicle.
Two armed suspects were killed and six officers from the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) were injured during an exchange of gunfire outside the bank on Tuesday.
Explosives were found in a nearby vehicle associated with the suspects and an RCMP explosive disposal unit brought in from Vancouver was able to safely destroy them at a local landfill on Wednesday.
Vancouver Island's Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) has taken over the investigation and the Independent Investigations Office — the oversight body which reviews all police actions that result in death or serious harm — is also looking into what happened.
On Thursday evening, both the Victoria and Saanich police departments launched a large-scale, five-hour search for two men in camouflage described as "suspicious", who were originally reported to police just a block from the bank's location in Saanich.
However, after the men were found in downtown Victoria several hours later, Victoria police said there was no weapon found, no risk to the public, and no link to the bank incident two days earlier.
According to Saanich Chief Const. Dean Duthie, the first 911 call came in at 11:02 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28.
Minutes later, GVERT officers and members of the Victoria and Saanich Police departments responded to reports that two armed men had entered a bank on the 3600-block of Shelbourne Street in Saanich, B.C.
Videos recorded by bystanders show police running toward the building, guns drawn, some hiding behind vehicles and bushes as shots rang out. Several witnesses sheltering in place said they saw and heard dozens of gunshots in rapid succession as the suspects exchanged gunfire with police.
Police said the shooting started outside the bank, though it wasn't immediately clear who shot first. The bank is in a largely residential neighbourhood of Saanich, about a kilometre west of the University of Victoria campus on southern Vancouver Island.
Chief Duthie said a GVERT team happened to be in the area on Tuesday "on an entirely separate and unrelated investigation," and was able to immediately re-deploy to the bank.
On Thursday afternoon, RCMP Cpl. Alex Bérubé said police are still working with the B.C. Coroners Service to positively identify the two male suspects.
"Once that is complete, our first priority will be to speak to the next of kin," he said. "And we'll be moving forward to determine more about them ... their backgrounds, who they are, their histories, and how that might relate to what took place.
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