Man accused of shooting at three different people

No injuries near Spirit River as culprit, rural resident open fire on each other

Spirit River RCMP are describing a series of shootouts in northwest Alberta on Friday that ended with a 30-year-old man facing a host of charges.

The chain of events started at about 3 p.m. Friday when property owners south of the town of Spirit River confronted a man they believed was trespassing on a neighbour’s property. The man fled in a vehicle, but the neighbour followed in his own vehicle and called 911.

The shooting started a short time later, said an RCMP news release issued Monday.

First, police allege, the man fired several shots from a handgun at the neighbour’s vehicle.

Then the man with the handgun headed south, following another vehicle carrying a man, woman and four-year-old girl into a yard.

He pulled the gun on the male driver, and demanded the keys, police said. That’s when, the news release said, “the female passenger took the keys and retreated inside the residence not wanting to give keys to the vehicle while her fouryear-old daughter was still in the back seat.”

The pursuer fired on the woman in the house — and missed — before she handed the keys over, according to police. As that unfolded, her male companion retrieved a long gun from the home and confronted their attacker as he was transferring what police described as stolen property from one vehicle to another.

The suspect fired multiple shots at the man with the long gun, who fired back. None of the shots hit anyone and the attempted car jacker fled on foot. RCMP said he was captured a short time later.

“This was a dynamic situation where the suspect’s actions posed an imminent threat to rural residents,” Sgt. Ryan Frost, Spirit River’s detachment commander, said in a statement. “With the support of area residents and the collaboration of responding RCMP members, we were able to bring the incident to a quick resolution where thankfully no one was injured.”

Ian Preston Letendre faces 25 criminal charges including three counts of discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life, break and enter to a resident and armed robbery. His first court appearance was in Grande Prairie provincial court Monday.

Spirit River is about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton and about 80 kilometres north of Grande Prairie.