SAANICH, B.C. — An independent review of a wild and deadly police shootout in the parking lot of a Bank of Montreal branch in Saanich, B.C., has described a series of "dramatic and violent events" that it says unfolded in "mere seconds" on June 28.
By the time it was over, police had fired more than 100 rounds at 22-year-old twin brothers Mathew and Isaac Auchterlonie of Duncan, B.C.
Both were dead, one shot nine times and the other three times.
Six police were wounded, three with life-threatening injuries.
The report released by the British Columbia Independent Investigations Office on Wednesday says it's not possible to determine definitively whether the police or the Auchterlonie brothers fired first, but it cleared the officers of wrongdoing.
"I do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and therefore the matter will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges," said Ronald MacDonald, the office's chief civilian director.
"Indeed, several officers showed remarkable courage under potentially deadly circumstances and should be commended for what they did to protect and then offer aid to their colleagues," he said in the 10-page report, which includes the first detailed account of the Vancouver Island shootout.
The Independent Investigations Office is a civilian-led police oversight agency responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the actions or inactions of a police officer, whether on or off duty.
"All the officers involved in this case were acting in lawful execution of their duty," said the review. "They were responding to a series of calls about an armed robbery in progress and had a duty both to protect the victims and arrest the perpetrators. They were justified in using force to achieve those ends."
The review includes witness statements of seven civilian and 24 police officers, audio recordings of 911 calls and police communications and closed-circuit television recordings from multiple locations.
It also includes cellphone video witness evidence, police dash camera video and forensic and firearms analysis.
MacDonald said the review used the evidence to construct a narrative of events as they unfolded.
The brothers were each carrying semi-automatic rifles with extended ammunition magazines when they walked into the Bank of Montreal branch at about 11 a.m. on June 28, the review says.
Each wore a baggy windbreaker jacket, gloves and combat boots, their faces covered with black balaclava-style masks. The review says olive-coloured body armour could be seen under their windbreakers, and their lower legs were covered with rigid protection.
One had a large knife hanging on the back of his belt.
"Upon entry (one brother) fired a single shot from his rifle into the ceiling of the bank vestibule," the review's narrative says.
"The two men then corralled bank employees and customers and walked them back to the area of the vault."
The review says the brothers appeared disappointed they were only able to obtain a small amount of cash.
Instead of fleeing, they waited inside the bank for several minutes, occasionally looking out to the parking lot, the review says.
Police had been alerted to a robbery in progress and Saanich officers and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team arrived as the brothers were leaving the bank holding their rifles.
"At the same moment, an unmarked police van carrying seven GVERT members turned from Shelbourne Street into the parking lot entrance, close to the bank doors," says the review.
It says a CCTV camera captured one of the brothers pointing his rifle in the direction of the police vehicle, resulting in a "lethal exchange of gunfire."
Officers armed with rifles were hit with bullets as they slid open a door and prepared to exit the van.
One officer described the bullets going "boom, boom, boom. He said he could feel 'the percussion of each one of them. They were so loud and so close.'"
The review said the team's medic, armed with a pistol, stood outside the van and exchanged gunfire with the brothers as his wounded colleagues remained in the vehicle.
"Two GVERT officers exited through the back doors of the van, both wounded in the legs," the review said. "One worked to fasten a tourniquet on the other's badly bleeding leg while the shooting was still continuing."
One officer was shot in both legs and one arm, another was wounded in the upper abdomen and thigh, while a third was shot in the neck.
Two officers suffered non-life-threatening but potentially life-altering injuries and one suffered a non-life-threatening injury, said Saanich police Chief Dean Duthie at a news conference Wednesday.
Three of the injured officers have returned to duty, he said.
"We are absolutely still healing and recovering," said Duthie, adding the injured officers, the police departments and staff have "good days and some darker days."
"It is my hope this report will help your healing process," he said. "This incident is something we will never forget."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2022.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
