Canadian police killed two gunmen during a shootout at a bank in British Columbia that also wounded six officers and evacuated nearby houses after a possible explosive device was found, police said.
Law enforcement officials said members of the Rapid Response Team arrived on site at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, Vancouver Island, near the border with the U.S. state of Washington, around 11 am (1800 GMT).
“The incident is still ongoing and there are many police officers in the area,” Saanich, British Columbia Police said in a statement on their website. “Houses and businesses near the scene were evacuated due to the possible presence of an explosive device in a car associated with the suspects,” the report said.
Sanich Police Chief Dean Doty said at a press conference that the two men were “heavily armed” and that initial reports indicated they were wearing bulletproof vests, adding that he had no further information about them.
Six officers were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.
“Currently, we expect some officers to be discharged after being treated in the emergency departments, while other officers received very serious injuries and were transferred to the surgical department,” he added.
