Police respond to gunfire at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Police will release the results of their investigation into the dramatic shootout in which two gunmen were killed outside the bank. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
SAANICH, B.C. – Police say two brothers killed by police in a shootout outside a Victoria-area bank were there for an armed confrontation, not robbery.
An investigation by the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit says 22-year-old Isaac Auchterlonie and his twin, Mathew, hung around for 11 minutes after they were given the cash with the objective of having an armed confrontation with police.
Investigators say the men had strong anti-government and anti-police views and their goal was to kill and harm as many police as possible in an armed confrontation.
Six officers were injured in the ensuing gunfight, while an earlier report says police fired as many as 100 rounds at the suspects, killing them both.
The police investigation has learned the men had been planning a shootout since at least 2019, before they robbed the Bank of Montreal branch last June.
Police say the staff and customers being held by the men in the bank were not targeted for the violence and were only being held to draw a police response.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2023.
