Police investigating possibility of 3rd suspect in Saanich, B.C., shooting

Police in Saanich, B.C., say they continue to investigate the possibility that a "third suspect" was involved in a fatal shooting at a bank that left two suspects dead and six officers injured Tuesday.

Police stressed that they do not believe there is any added risk to the public, however, and that investigators will continue to provide threat assessments when available.

As of Wednesday afternoon, three of the injured officers have been released from hospital, while three others continue to receive care.

Saanich Police Chief Const. Dean Duthie says the three officers still in hospital sustained "life-threatening" injuries Tuesday, and one officer remains in intensive care.

Those three officers have undergone surgery and will require several more, alongside months of recovery, Duthie says.

Saanich police respond to the incident at the Bank of Montreal on June 28, 2022. (CTV News)

Duthie says Greater Victoria's emergency response team was not far from the Bank of Montreal when the report of the armed robbery call came in and were on scene in time to confront the suspects.

The police chief adds that explosive devices found inside a car linked to the suspects at the scene have also been disposed of.

Officers from the BC RCMP provincial explosive disposal unit (EDU) brought the explosives to the Hartland Landfill in Saanich and "safely destroyed" them, according to Duthie.