STAY CONNECTED TO VIBRANTVICTORIA
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON CITIFIED VICTORIA
- Times Colonist
- 3 Jul 2022
- CINDY E. HARNETT
- The body of a suspect is removed from the scene of a robbery at the Bank of Montreal at Shelbourne and Pear streets on Tuesday. Two suspects, identified as twin brothers Issac and Mathew Auchterlonie of Duncan, were killed in a shootout with police.
Tuesday’s Saanich shootout has parallels with a North Hollywood shootout that happened on Feb. 28, 1997. The North Hollywood case also involved two heavily armed bank robbers wearing protective gear who exchanged gunfire with police and were killed. The Saanich robbers, as reported by a witness, were unhurried while in the bank, like the two in 1997.
In North Hollywood, an estimated 1,100 rounds were fired by the robbers and 650 by the police; 12 officers and eight civilians were injured. Police were armed with handguns; the robbers had military-grade weapons. The shootout prompted police forces in the U.S. and Canada to arm officers with long guns in addition to their handguns.
When news broke Tuesday of men in tactical gear with highpowered weapons calmly robbing a Saanich bank, followed by a shootout outside, retired Saanich detective Chris Horsley was struck by the similarities to the 1997 North Hollywood shootout that changed policing across North America.
“My mind immediately went to the Bank of America shooting — it’s the first thing that popped into my head because I just recognize some of the similarities between those two incidents,” said Horsley, who was asked to comment on the case.
“It was a landmark incident in policing for North America,” said Horsley. “The Bank of America robbery was used for training police officers. We actually watched the video, we listened to the radio transmission from the robbery … the whole purpose being to learn from the incident and to prepare in the event of something similar happening again.”
“In recent years, if there’s a call for service, you’ll see a police officer carrying a long gun. That’s become the norm. At the time of the Bank of America robbery that was unheard of,” said Horsley.
On Tuesday in Saanich, two heavily armed suspects in protective gear were killed and six members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team were wounded in a shootout at the Bank of Montreal on Shelbourne Street in Saanich.
The suspects have been identified as twin brothers Issac and Mathew Auchterlonie of Duncan. Police said the brothers don’t have criminal records.
The RCMP bomb disposal unit removed “extremely dangerous” explosives from a suspect vehicle at the scene and transported them to Hartland Landfill for destruction.
“As a retired officer on the sidelines having received that training, there just appears to be so many similar parallels to this recent incident and that case from all those years ago, including the demeanour of the suspects and the fact they appear to be wearing a lot of protective gear in anticipation, potentially, of an armed encounter,” said Horsley.
According to the documentary North Hollywood Shootout — Situation Critical, both men took the barbiturate phenobarbital prior to the robbery to calm their nerves. They allegedly filled a jam jar with gasoline and put it in the back seat of their vehicle to set it on fire and destroy the evidence.
Horsley said despite the time gap, he wondered if it was a copycat case. “Bank robberies have almost become a thing of the past,” said Horsley. “They don’t happen that often anymore because even if they do get some money by passing a note, they get a minimal amount.” Bank robbery perpetrators are also often career criminals.
Horsley said it struck him as strange that Tuesday’s bank robbery, based on public reports, started with an explosion. He said the standard practice would to be to enter the bank quietly and avoid a scene.
Horsley, who retired while a detective staff sergeant in February, said he felt helpless hearing the news and not being able to assist.
“There’s a feeling of helplessness that you can’t go to help people who are not just your former colleagues, but a lot of them are your friends,” said Horsley, “but I also know that the level of training that police officers receive in this country is very high and at times like this, you will always default back to your training and the skills that have been ingrained in you.”
Edited by pontcanna, 03 July 2022 - 04:19 AM.
