Six police officers are in hospital with gunshot wounds and two suspects have been killed following a shooting at a bank in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday.

Multiple officers from Saanich Police, Victoria Police, and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) responded to the report of armed suspects at a bank in the 3600 block of Shelbourne Street around 11 a.m. PDT.

When officers arrived, the two armed suspects began firing at police, according to a joint statement from the Saanich and Victoria police departments.

Two suspects were shot by police and died at the scene, said police.

No members of the public, including bank employees or customers, are believed to have been injured in the incident, according to the joint statement.

Three of the six officers who were shot are members of the Saanich Police Department, while the other three are members of the Victoria Police Department.

At this time we anticipate that some officers will be released following emergency treatment, whereas other officers sustained very serious injuries and have been taken into surgery, said Saanich Police Chief Const. Dean Duthie at a live news conference Tuesday afternoon.

We will provide you with further updates on the condition of all the officers as we are able to, he said.

We are keeping their families updated and we are doing everything we can to support them, as well as supporting all of our staff.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. PDT, police asked residents in the area to shelter at home as officers searched for a potential third suspect, and examined a potential explosive device inside a car linked to one of the suspects.

At around 6 p.m. PDT, police lifted the shelter in place order and said there was no further indication that a third suspect was involved in the incident.

The area remained closed to traffic early Tuesday evening, however, as a team from the B.C. mainland assessed the potential explosive.

Saanichs police chief says Tuesdays daylight shooting was the most violent incident he can recall occurring in the community in his nearly 27 years of service.

RUNNING FOR MY LIFE

Witness Brenda Boyd told CTV News she was walking near the intersection of Shelbourne and Pear streets when she heard at least 25 to 50 gunshots and saw smoke outside the Bank of Montreal around 11:30 a.m.

But I wasnt counting. I was just going, running for my life, she said.

A police officer, who was hiding behind some bushes, yelled to her to leave the area immediately, she said.

The witness said she saw at least three people being taken away on stretchers into waiting ambulances.

B.C. Emergency Health Services says paramedics were called to the shooting at 11:21 a.m.

Seven ambulances responded to the scene and took five patients to hospital. Medics remained in the area on standby after 2 p.m.

Another witness to the gunfire said he was in a nearby bike shop when he saw two policemen get shot and saw another person lying on the ground in a nearby parking lot. 

It was just terrible, Fabien Cousineau said. They were dragging policemen behind a police van.

All traffic was still being diverted from the area to allow police vehicles and medical personnel to access the scene late Tuesday afternoon.

IT WAS RAPID GUNFIRE

Cleo Gagner and her 15-year-old son were buying cat food in a veterinary clinic near the Bank of Montreal on Shelbourne Street when she said they heard what sounded like two gunshots.

Boom, boom, she told CTV News in the minutes after the incident. And then it was rapid gunfire. Multiple gunshots from multiple shooters.

She estimated they heard 40 to 50 shots in quick succession.

Then a Saanich police officer started driving up towards the BMO with his door open, she said. He gets out of his vehicle, draws his gun… and then the gunfire escalated and he retreated away.

The woman said she and her son ran back into the vets office and took shelter until things grew quiet outside.

A spokesperson for BMO says the company is deeply saddened by the incident.

The safety and security of our customers and employees is our priority and our thoughts are with every person impacted by today’s events, said spokesperson Jeff Roman.

We thank emergency responders for their fast assistance and for helping to keep the public safe.

Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes, in a brief statement on his Twitter account Tuesday, said: Our hearts go out to our officers, bank staff and residents… no words can describe how horrendous this is.

Chief Const. Duthie says hes grateful no members of the public were injured.

From what happened and what Ive described to you, and what I know about that tragic, chaotic, dramatic scene, the fact that no citizens were injured in anyway is truly amazing and Im so grateful for it, he said.

Again, the officers did get injured because they were doing what they signed up to do, to protect the public, to respond to the danger, to keep people safe.

Duthie said the Saanich Police Department and its law enforcement partners in neighbouring jurisdictions are still ready to respond to any other calls for service, and that the organization is looking to support everyone who was involved.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has been notified of the incident and has opened its own investigation.

The police watchdog group is called whenever an incident involving police results in serious injury or death, regardless of if there have been any allegations of wrongdoing.

The Government of Saskatchewan is gearing up for a joint COVID-19 booster and influenza vaccination program in the fall.

However, officials have no plans to increase second booster eligibility at this time.

“We are not announcing any expansion at this point. We need more people currently eligible under the existing criteria to go and get their shots,” said a statement from the Ministry of Health.

Saskatchewan residents who are 50 years old or older are eligible for a second booster of COVID-19 vaccine. All adults living in long-term care, personal care or other senior congregate living settings are also eligible for a second booster.

“Right now (eligibility) is still going to be over 50 because that’s where we’ve seen the most impact from COVID,” said Health Minister Paul Merriman.

“If I can get one message out to everybody, please go in and get your booster shots as soon as you possibly can. It will protect you from any severe effects from COVID-19.”

There is the potential for COVID-19 transmission to spike again in the fall, according to the Ministry of Health.

The statement said a number of residents currently eligible have yet to receive their second and third doses. The ministry encourages these people to get their COVID-19 vaccinations this summer “to reduce transmission and severe outcomes this fall.”

In the province’s weekly COVID-19 update for June 12 to 18, officials said immunization rates for both primary and booster vaccinations “have remained stable for the last four weeks.”

As of June 18, 52.7 per cent of all adults and 49.4 per cent of people 12 and older had received at least one booster dose.

According to the ministry, unvaccinated individuals are three times more likely to be hospitalized and six times more likely to end up in intensive care or die due to COVID-19 compared to people with at least three doses of vaccine.

June 30 will be the last weekly COVID-19 update from the province before it switches to monthly reports at the recommendation of chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab.

“We weren’t seeing a lot of activity in those reports,” Merriman said.

“We think this will paint a more accurate picture for COVID-19 as it is now, I think, the fourth or fifth highest respiratory illness in our province. There are other illnesses that are out there as well.”

Merriman said other jurisdictions have already made the reporting switch.

A three-week report will be released on July 21, covering the period of June 26 to July 16.

The first monthly report will be released on Aug. 18 for the period of July 17 to Aug. 13.

Epidemiologist Nazeem Muhajarine is “very disappointed” with the government’s data reporting approach. He said the information is already limited, adding further limitations will prevent people from doing their own risk assessments.

Muhajarine said people can likely manage without weekly updates in the summer, but he worries what information will be available if COVID-19 spikes in the fall. Without it, he said people will be operating in the dark.

“We want transparent and accurate data,” Muhajarine said.

“Numbers are everything. What gets measured and counted gets attention and gets done.”

A Regina man is in hospital and another man is facing criminal charges following an incident into an assault on early Friday morning.

Officers were called to the area of 6th Avenue and Angus Street around 4:52 a.m. for a report of two men assaulting a third man, according to a release from the Regina Police Service (RPS).

When police got to the scene, they found a 31-year-old man with injuries consistent with a fist fight, who was taken to hospital by EMS.

Investigation led to the arrest a 22-year-old Regina man. He is charged with aggravated assault and failure to comply with conditions of a release order.

The suspect made his first appearance at Provincial Court on Friday.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) is notifying some clients that their personal information may have been exposed on the dark web following a cyber attack.

The Crown corporation announced it was the target of a cyber attack at the end of 2021.

SLGA is now warning some regulatory clients that sensitive personal information obtained during permit and registration processes within the past five years may have been accessed.

The information accessed may include “place and date of birth, drivers licence, height, weight, eye colour, employment history, criminal record history and financial disclosures,” according to the Crown corporation.

SLGA said the notification is taking place after cyber experts discovered evidence some of the information was disclosed on the dark web.

Initial investigation also revealed that SLGA employees’ information may have been exposed, including names, banking information and social insurance numbers.

Current and former employees have been advised of the possible exposure.

SLGA is offering credit monitoring for two years to both clients that were directly notified and current and former employees.

Third party experts will conduct an audit of SLGA’s cyber security systems, policies and procedure, as well as document protection and retention policies.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Cyber experts and advisors; law enforcement and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner are working with SLGA.

The body of a 19-year-old man who went missing while swimming at the public beach in Buena Vista, Sask. on Last Mountain Lake has been recovered, according to RCMP.

Police said they received a call about a missing swimmer around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday.

Lumsden, Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan RCMP’s underwater recovery team, conservation officers and local emergency crews along with civilians searched for the 19-year-old swimmer.

The man was located dead in the water near where he was last seen, according to RCMP.

RCMP said his family has been notified.

COVID-19 viral levels in Regina’s wastewater have dropped to the lowest levels seen since the beginning of the Omicron wave and are now considered moderate, according to analysis from the University of Regina (U of R).

“Moderate essentially means we are at about 50 per cent of the maximum (viral levels) of the Alpha wave,” U of R molecular biologist Tzu-Chiao Chao said.

“We are now, for the first time, dipping below the highest levels of the Alpha and Delta waves, respectfully.”

Before the Omicron wave the highest levels were found in mid-December of 2020 and April of 2021, the U of R said.

According to Chao, Regina’s viral load has been on a “path to reduction” since May, but it has been fairly slow.

Based on patterns from previous years, and the fact that more people are spending time outside, Chao said he is hopeful the downward trend will continue. However, if previous years are any indication, levels could begin to increase in the fall “potentially driven by a new variant,” he said.

In its last weekly update, the provincial government reported 12 more COVID-19 related deaths in Saskatchewan.

The province also announced that weekly updates will end and shift to monthly updates, starting August 18.

Chao said the U of R does not have any plans to change its wastewater data reporting schedule in the foreseeable future.

A seven-year-old Regina boy is being treated for serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle at a bus stop in Regina on June 21, according to an online fundraiser.

Benjamin Dufour, along with his older brother and several classmates, were waiting for a school bus when a 47-year-old man who was driving impaired, hit Dufour before colliding with a house.

According to Dufour’s family, he was stabilized after the incident and airlifted to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon for treatment of several injuries, such as multiple broken bones, soft tissue damage to his C-spine, as well as a traumatic brain injury.

Dufour is currently in critical condition and underwent several surgeries for his injuries, according to his family.

“We know that the recovery process for Ben is very long at the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. Once he can return to Regina, frequent trips to Saskatoon will be necessary … we are told that rehab for Ben will be a long and gruelling process,” the Dufour family said in a statement.

The family ended the statement by saying they sincerely appreciate the support they’ve received thus far.

A fundraising campaign for Ben has been established and has raised more than $19,000 as of Monday afternoon.

A 28-year-old man on a bicycle was seriously injured Sunday evening after being hit by a pickup truck near the intersection of Garnet St. and Dewdney Ave., the Regina Police Service (RPS) said in a news release.

The man was found by emergency crews laying on the roadway before being transported to hospital by EMS.

The driver of the pickup truck, a 31-year-old woman, was interviewed by police however RPS did not reveal if any charges were laid.

Preliminary investigation revealed the truck was travelling westbound on Dewdney Ave. in the right lane, the cyclist was heading south on Garnet St. when the collision occurred, RPS said.

The east and west bound lanes of Dewdney Ave. between Cameron St. and Athol St. were shut down to traffic but were reopened Monday morning, according to the release.

RPS also confirmed the cyclist remains in hospital.

RPS are continuing to investigate, anyone with more information is asked to contact the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).