A string of daylight armed robberies ended in gunfire on Monday (Jan. 10) afternoon when Canmore RCMP members shot and killed a suspect in the crimes.
The man shot has been identified as a 62-year-old Canmore resident known to police. He is expected to be officially identified Thursday (Jan. 13).
At about 4:20 p.m., RCMP stopped a grey Ford Probe on Railway Avenue in front of the Scotiabank branch following an armed robbery at Expressions Nail Salon on Bow Valley Trail a short time earlier.
Sgt. Patrick Webb said members saw the driver of the vehicle and he fit the description of a suspect in the series of robberies. A traffic stop was initiated, but the suspect did not stop until he was eventually boxed in by a second police car near the bank.
“The suspect presented a handgun in a threatening manner as he exited the vehicle,” Webb said. “The two RCMP officers then discharged their firearms at the suspect.”
He was treated at the scene by EMS and taken to Canmore Hospital, where he died of his injuries at approximately 5 p.m.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has taken over the investigation of the shooting. Canmore RCMP will continue to investigate the robberies. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday (Jan. 12).
ASIRT executive director Clif Purvis said the suspect was shot twice in the chest, although there were numerous shots fired by the two officers, one with 25 years on the force, the other, four years.
“My role is to determine if the actions of the two subject police officers were lawful and justified,” he said.
Purvis said the weapon the suspect had at the time was a replica 9 mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol. While not a functioning handgun, the replica was a spring-powered air pistol that shot plastic BBs.
Purvis said the air pistol is almost identical to the real weapon and may have been produced by the gun manufacturer. However, he could not comment on whether or not Boucher shot the air pistol at police before they fired their weapons.
A lot of details related to the shooting, including how many shots were fired, by whom and when, are to be determined during the ASIRT investigation.
Canmore dentist Lloyd Evans witnessed the shooting first hand from the Safeway parking lot.
He said the man stepped out of the Ford Probe, holding a gun and yelling, and appeared to fire a couple of shots to the rear of his car. An RCMP member then exited his patrol car and returned fire.
Apparently hit by the gunfire, the man landed face down on the pavement near the car, where he was eventually attended to by emergency services personnel and later removed from the scene by ambulance.
Evans said he was less than 50 metres from the scene. “The police stopped the guy, maybe they knew he was coming.
“I saw a guy (suspect) stop his car and then he jumped out. He was yelling and shot at a car behind him; two shots, I think. Then the cop got out and went around his car and fired maybe three shots.
“I was a ways away, but I could see it all.”
RCMP quickly cordoned off the scene on Railway Avenue to investigate. In all, a dozen police vehicles were on scene, including a pair of dog units. Railway Avenue was blocked off until Tuesday evening.
German exchange students Max Gillis and Philip Schreiber, both 16, were at the nearby Starbucks when the vehicle was pulled over.
“I thought I heard a noise, but I didn’t know it was a gunshot,” Schreiber said.
Gillis added they saw police with guns drawn, but did not realize what had happened until the man had been shot.
“We noticed how suddenly he was lying on the ground,” he said.
The pair said they never would have expected something of this nature to occur in Canmore.
Webb said the two Canmore members who stopped the vehicle and were involved in the shooting “absolutely” acted appropriately.
“In this situation, with an individual with a handgun in a threatening manner who has basically, over the last few days, committed armed robberies, our members, we believe, acted appropriately,” he said, adding the shooting did present a danger to the public. “When shots are fired on an urban street there is a danger to the public absolutely; in this case, the RCMP members did not have a choice.
“In this situation, we had an individual coming out with a handgun, apparently ready to use it, and they used their weapons to neutralize that threat.”
Webb said RCMP still have to determine definitively if the person shot and killed was in fact the same one that robbed the three businesses.
“I can only say it is believed to be him because positive identification is still to be established. But he does resemble the person in that photograph,” he said.
The photograph came from the surveillance camera at the Oak Barrel liquor store on Bow Valley Trail on Sunday (Jan. 9) – the second business robbed.
Owner Mike Meinhardt said purchasing the equipment was some of the best money he ever spent.
“I almost didn’t do it, but ended up getting a really good video system and thank God I did,” Meinhardt said, adding it has been useful in the past. “(RCMP) had a clear video they were able to release to the public and I am sure it didn’t hurt the process of catching the guy.
“Yesterday, that video surveillance equipment paid for itself.”
He said his staff is trained in how to handle robberies, as liquor stores tend to be high profile targets, and the staff member from Sunday’s robbery handled herself perfectly.
He said she is still quite shaken up as a result of this week’s events.
Meinhardt added what many in the community have been thinking – shock at both the armed robberies and the shooting happening in the relatively quiet mountain town.
“You just do not expect that stuff to happen in Canmore or anywhere. That is why it is such a big story,” he said. “I am so thankful RCMP caught him.”
He said had the suspect not been apprehended, a lot of people, employees and business owners including himself, would have been afraid to go to work.
The trio of robberies began on Saturday (Jan. 8) at the Sun Siesta tanning salon at approximately 3:45 p.m.
At that time, a male suspect entered the business, located on Sixth Avenue just off Main Street, produced a handgun and a paper bag for the employee.
He instructed her to give him the cash from the register, which she provided, and he then left the scene on foot.
A witness to the robbery, who asked to remain anonymous, said it happened quite fast.
“It went seriously fast,” she said. “He was in and out of there in less than a minute.”
The witness had been tanning and was finished when she returned to the entranceway of the salon.
“I came out and he was already standing at the front,” she said. “He turned to me, told me not to move, turned back to her, told her to put the money in the bag and left.”
Later that night, Canmore RCMP released a description of the suspect and a sketch put together by eyewitnesses.
