Canadian police shot dead two people when the shootout on Tuesday at a bank in British Columbia which caused six officers to be injured, and the houses nearby were evacuated after the discovery of the possibility of explosives, the police said.
Emergency response team members arrived at the scene at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, on Vancouver Island, near the border with the US Washington state, around 11 am (1800 GMT), law enforcers said.
“This remains a ongoing police incident with a heavy police presence in the area,” according to a statement posted by Saanich, British Columbia, police on their website.
“Houses and businesses close to the scene have been evacuated because of the potential explosive devices in vehicles related to the suspects.”
Then, the police said they raised the order of shelters on the spot but the block near the bank remained closed on the potential bombs.
The suspects are “very armed” and initial reports advised them to wear body protectors, Police Chief Saanich Dean Duthie said at a press conference, saying he had no further information about them.