THE Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) on Friday in its investigative findings on the bank robbery and attempted murder of Vancouver Island police officers by two individuals in Saanich in June 2022 said that while the suspects were “not known to police, evidence at the scene indicated the suspects held strong anti-government, anti-police, and anti-authority views.”
The VIIMCU’s concluding report
On the morning of June 28, 2022, two armed suspects entered a bank in Saanich with the intention of causing serious harm.
At 11:02 a.m., two male suspects entered the Bank of Montreal branch located in the 3600 block of Shelbourne Street, Saanich.
Both suspects wore balaclavas, were clad in full body armor, and were armed with semi-automatic SKS rifles.
Officers from the Saanich Police Department responded to 911 calls from inside and outside the bank. On arrival, officers observed an armed robbery in progress and established containment of the area surrounding the bank.
The Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) that was in the area on an unrelated matter, also attended the call to provide support to the initial responding frontline officers.
As the two suspects exited the bank, GVERT members drove into the BMO parking lot and an exchange of gunfire occurred. The two suspects – who were later identified as twin brothers, Isaac and Matthew Auchterlonie, both 22 years old from Duncan – were shot by police in the exchange and both succumbed to their injuries at the scene.
Six police officers were also wounded by gunfire: three Victoria Police Department officers and three Saanich Police Department officers, all members of GVERT. The officers were taken to hospital and treated for their injuries.
The VIIMCU assumed conduct of the criminal investigation into the robbery and the attempted murder of police officers. The primary objective of the investigators was to determine if any other party or parties were involved in the planning and/or execution of the incident.
Despite previous speculations, there was no evidence found to suggest any third party was involved.
It was determined the suspects’ primary objective was to shoot and kill police officers in what they saw as a stand against government regulations, especially in relation to firearms ownership.
The initial response and subsequent investigation included support from numerous police agencies, including Saanich Police Department, Victoria Police Department, multiple RCMP units such as Air Services, Major Crime Sections, Explosive Disposal Unit and the Emergency Response Team.
Multiple other police units were engaged to assist with the large-scale investigation, including the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST), the E Division Integrated National Security Enforcement Team and the RCMP Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU), totalling over 200 police officers involved in this investigation.
There were 22 civilians inside the bank, who were bank employees as well as customers. Video surveillance showed the two armed suspects, clad in body armor, entered the bank at 11:02 a.m., prompting multiple calls to police. The suspects were inside the bank for just over 16 minutes. Surveillance footage captured them on several occasions going back to the front vestibule and looking outside before going back inside the bank. Surveillance footage also showed one suspect discharging his rifle inside the bank. The time spent in the bank and their actions made it apparent to police that the objective of the robbery was not to obtain money, but rather to generate an armed confrontation with police.
Following the aftermath, and in the course of the investigation, police learned calls had been made to police dispatch by witnesses shortly after the incident with reports that a white van had been seen driving erratically in the area around the time of the robbery and shootout. These reports, it was later determined, had been sightings of the unmarked GVERT van en route to the robbery and not affiliated with the suspects.
Police did learn, however, the suspects purchased a vehicle a few days prior to the robbery and shootout: a white 4-door 1992 Toyota Camry with two distinctive black racing stripes from the hood to the trunk, registered to one of the suspects.
In the trunk of the Camry, police discovered in excess of 30 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Four additional firearms and over 3,500 rounds of ammunition were also recovered. A NWEST analysis concluded both the suspects held valid Possession and Acquisition Licenses (PALs) for both non-restricted and restricted firearms.
During the investigation, a CCTV video canvass was completed at hundreds of businesses and residences around the area of the shooting. In total, video was obtained from 52 different sources, including numerous locations around the bank. This also included video spanning from the area near the suspects’ residence and the path used by them to get to the area of the shooting.
A search was conducted at the residence where the suspects lived. Multiple improvised explosive devices were located, as well as materials used to manufacture the explosive devices. EDU members advised that the explosives appeared homemade and were not sophisticated. There was no evidence that the explosives had been obtained from outside sources, but had rather been manufactured by the suspects. The explosives recovered from the Toyota Camry closely matched the appearance of those found at the residence and they appeared to be from the same source.
While the suspects were not known to police, evidence at the scene indicated the suspects held strong anti-government, anti-police, and anti-authority views. Personal annotations were recovered expressing their outrage at the restriction of their access to firearm and body armour.
Through careful analysis of evidence gathered, investigators believe that the suspects’ original plan was to have the shootout in mid-2023 at an unknown location, but they moved up the date due to having to move out of the house in which they lived. The suspects concluded that they could not move their arsenal of weapons to a new location without attracting attention and thus selected the bank location at random.
Copious amounts of evidence gathered from the scene of the shooting and the residence of the two suspects ultimately concludes that the two individuals were isolated from society and harbouring deep-seated resentment and anger towards authority. The individuals had been plotting an act of extreme violence since at least 2019 and were fully prepared for the consequences. The civilians inside the bank, while directly threatened and traumatized, were never the ultimate targets of the suspects. The armed robbery was used to generate a police response with the ultimate goal of inflicting damage. The action of the officers on that day, saved countless lives.
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