Accused gunman carrying $330,000
Suspect held in B.C. after triple murder in Edmonton
Edmonton police investigators are interviewing and examining accused triple murderer Travis Baumgartner in Langley, B.C., where he remains in RCMP custody.
A two-day manhunt following multiple slayings at the University of Alberta’s HUB Mall early Friday morning ended Saturday afternoon when Baumgartner arrived at the border crossing between Aldergrove, B.C., and Lynden, Wash. — about 22 kilometres south of Abbotsford, B.C. — with $330,000 in cash, his mother’s licence plate on the back of his Ford F-150, his own driver’s licence and no passport. Police are currently combing through Baumgartner’s truck and belongings for evidence.
“Everybody is now relieved that he is in custody,” Supt. Bob Hassel said during a Sunday afternoon news conference at Edmonton police headquarters.
Baumgartner was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and arrested on a Canada-wide warrant by RCMP officers from Langley. Hassel said Baumgartner was apprehended peacefully and without incident.
“Quite frankly, I’m very happy with the way that it ended,” Hassel said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection first discovered an armed-and-dangerous alert when a licence-plate reader scanned the back of Baumgartner’s truck. Officers approached the truck and took him into custody without incident at about 3:10 p.m. local time.
A gun and body armour issued by G4S Cash Solutions Canada, the armoured car company that employed Baumgartner and the shooting victims, have not yet been recovered.
Baumgartner was handcuffed and put into a holding cell while border guards confirmed his identity. Because he hadn’t entered the United States, he was turned over to Canadian authorities.
Hassel credited quick communication between lawenforcement agencies for Baumgartner’s capture.
Border agencies were notified of Baumgartner within four hours of the shooting, Hassel said.
Baumgartner faces three first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his fellow armoured guards Michelle Shegelski, 26; Brian Ilesic, 35; and Eddie Rejano, 39. He is also charged with attempted murder in the shooting of another guard, Matthew Schuman, who remained in critical condition in hospital on Sunday afternoon, as well as four counts of armed robbery.
A memorial remained outside G4S Cash Solutions headquarters Sun- day afternoon, along with personal messages to the victims.
“Papa, I love you so much and I miss you. Thanks for everything,” Ilesic’s family members wrote on a card. “Brian, you are a hero! Enjoy heaven. Miss you.”
Police have been in touch with all the families involved, including Baumgartner’s mother, Sandy, who lived with him in a Sherwood Park bungalow and had issued a public plea for her son to surrender.
Eight Edmonton police officers — five detectives and three forensics investigators — flew to B.C. on Saturday night and are currently “sifting through evidence,” Hassel added.
The four victims and Baumgartner were employees of G4S and were delivering money to cash machines at the University of Alberta’s HUB Mall early Friday.
Baumgartner was on the run for nearly two days.
Solicitor-General Jonathan Denis said on the weekend he expected the process of getting Baumgartner back to Edmonton, to answer to the charges, to get underway swiftly.
“I’m happy that they’ve apprehended the suspect and even, on top of that, that he was apprehended without issue,” Denis said. “Any other scenario could have ended very badly.”