Three members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) injured in an exchange of gunfire outside a Saanich bench on Tuesday remain in hospital recovering from extensive surgeries, while three other injured officers have been released.
The updated status of the six male officers, three from the Saanich department and three from Victoria, was given on Wednesday afternoon at a media conference at the Saanich police headquarters.
“Three officers have been discharged from the hospital after receiving medical attention and are now recovering at home with their families,” the const chief said. Dean Duthie, flanked by senior police officers from Saanich and Victoria departments.
The other three suffered what were initially considered life-threatening injuries, he added. One remains in the intensive care unit and, along with another agent still in the hospital, will require additional surgeries and treatment over the next few months.
All officers suffered gunshot wounds in an exchange with two gunmen coming out of BMO Bank on Shelbourne and Pear streets. The two suspects in the robbery at a bank were shot dead by police.
While police are still investigating the possibility of a third suspect, Wednesday’s update revealed that no further information has been discovered that indicates a risk to the public. Duthie had said Tuesday that “vague information” about the potential third suspect prompted a shelter notice to be placed at the site in a wide area around the crime scene, before it rose that night.
An explosive device found Tuesday in a vehicle associated with the suspects has been secured by the BC RCMP’s explosives disposal unit, which transported it Wednesday to the Hartland landfill to be destroyed, Duthie said.
The Vancouver Island Integrated Crime Unit (VIIMCU) has taken over the criminal investigation, while BC’s police oversight agency, the Office of Independent Investigation (IIO) is investigating the actions police officers during the incident.
As the area around the bank remains an active crime scene, many nearby businesses remain closed and behind the police tape, including the entire Shelbourne Plaza and those on the west side of Shelbourne Street between Pear Street and Church Avenue.
Shelbourne remained closed to traffic and pedestrians between Cedar Hill Cross Road and Donnelly Avenue and all side streets in between had no access to Shelbourne. No deadline could be set for the reopening of the companies until the investigation is more advanced, the chief said.
At Wednesday’s press conference, little new information was revealed about the still-early investigation, including the identification of the two dead men, the chronology of the incident and whether police recovered the stolen money from the bank. Duthie postponed questions about the investigation to the spokesman for VIIMCU, the RCMP sergeant. Chris Manseau, who promised the media that more information would be provided as it became available.
“Everyone has seen the videos online, we are still sifting through mountains of evidence that appear all the time. More information will be broadcast in the future, but at the moment I can’t talk about details,” Manseau said.
Asked about GVERT’s quick response to the scene, Duthie said they were in another unrelated transaction at the time and responded to the bank’s situation as it was a higher priority.
Members of the public with video of the incident are asked to send it to saanichpd.ca.evidence.com/axon/citizen/public/22-12262. Anyone with information who has not yet spoken to police is asked to call the VIIMCU information line at 250-380-6211.
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