Mounties on Vancouver Island have publicly identified the two gunmen killed during a shootout with police at a Saanich bank on Tuesday.
The suspects are 22-year-old twin brothers Matthew and Isaac Auchterlony, the BC RCMP’s Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit confirmed at a press conference Saturday morning.
The twins are from Duncan, B.C., and their family is cooperating with the investigation and has asked for privacy, said B.C. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Alex Berube.
Neither man had any criminal record, nor were they known to the police, he added.
“We understand that releasing the names of the two deceased may provide an answer to who it is, but there are still many questions and investigative efforts that need to be undertaken to fully understand what happened and why,” Berube said.
“The motive behind the armed robbery and the subsequent exchange of gunfire with police remains to be determined.”
Berube added that investigators believe there may be people who have more information about the brothers who have not yet spoken to police.
“We need these people to come forward,” he said.
Bérubé did not have an update on the condition of the three police officers injured in the incident, who remained in hospital on Thursday. He referred questions about those officers to the Saanich and Victoria police departments.
Police – including officers from the heavily armed Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team – were called to the Bank of Montreal branch on Shelbourne Street in Saanich around 11 a.m. Tuesday for reports of a bank robbery.
The officers encountered the two suspects as they were leaving the bank, and a shootout ensued.
The suspects were killed and six officers were injured. While police initially said they were investigating the possibility of a third suspect involved in the attempted robbery, Bérubé said Saturday that investigators now believe the Ochterlony brothers are the only suspects in the bank.
Investigators are still looking to see if anyone else is involved or connected to the incident, he said.
After the initial exchange of gunfire, police found “improvised explosive devices” in the suspects’ vehicle, which they have since described as a white four-door 1992 Toyota Camry with two black racing stripes over the hood and roof.
On Thursday, police asked anyone who saw the vehicle in the week before the shooting to contact them.
Berube said Saturday that police have confirmed the Ochterlony brothers are connected to the vehicle and said investigators have received several calls and tips about the car.
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