Alberta murder suspect nabbed trying to enter U. S. at Lynden
Stolen licence plate on security guard’s truck raises red flag for border officials
Accused triple murderer Travis Baumgartner will remain in RCMP custody in Langley until later this week, while Edmonton police investigators comb through his truck and belongings for evidence.
A two- day manhunt following the shooting of four armoured car guards at the University of Alberta on Friday ended Saturday afternoon when Baumgartner tried to enter the United States at the Aldergrove/ Lynden border crossing south of Abbotsford. He had a large quantity of Canadian currency, his mother’s stolen licence plate on the back of his Ford F- 150, his own driver’s licence and no passport.
Police computers had been updated with the information on the plate stolen from Baumgartner’s mother’s car. The computerized licence- plate reader at the Lynden border post triggered an alert, U. S. Customs and Border Protection officials said. Officers approached the truck and arrested Baumgartner without a fight around 3: 10 p. m. local time. He was not armed. He was refused entry to the U. S. and later turned over to Mounties.
“Sometimes you have to scratch your head and wonder why people would knowingly come up and make contact with law enforcement,” said Tom Schreiber, a U. S. Customs and Border Protection officer. “Maybe he thought he would be able to get through. I don’t know.”
Baumgartner faces three firstdegree murder charges in the deaths of his fellow armoured car 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, and four counts of armed robbery.
Baumgartner and the victims all worked for G4S, a security company that was loading cash into an ATM inside the HUB Mall, a shopping centre and student residence on the university campus.
Baumgartner, who was travelling alone, was carrying a backpack containing $ 334,000 in Canadian currency, said Mike Milne, a U. S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Seattle.
Edmonton Police Supt. Bob Hassel says a team of five Edmonton detectives and three crime scene technicians was sent to B. C. to scour Baumgartner’s truck for evidence.
“My understanding is that we are just going to be beginning the search of the vehicle so we will have more to come at that time,” Hassel said Sunday.
Hassel credited Baumgartner’s capture to quick communication between law enforcement agencies. Border agencies were notified of Baumgartner within four hours of the shooting, he said.
The handgun and body armour issued by G4S to Baumgartner has not yet been recovered, Hassel said.
Meanwhile, Internet postings seem to show a dark side to Baumgartner. In a post on Facebook on June 1, Baumgartner wrote: “I wonder if I’d make the 6 o’clock news if I just started poping [ sic] people off.”
A June 5 post on Twitter reads: “Crosses to burn, axes to fall and down on your knees you don’t look so tall,” a lyric from the Billy Talent song, Viking Death March.
On Thursday, in the hours before the shooting, Baumgartner quoted the Joker from the movie The Dark Knight, tweeting: “One night she grabs a kitchen knife to defend herself, now he doesn’t like that ... not ... one ... bit.”