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Residents of Peerless Trout First Nation, in northern Alberta, had to shelter in place overnight after regional RCMP spotted three people just north of the community Saturday evening, who were believed to be armed after allegedly robbing several guns and shooting at someone earlier that day.
The incident sparked an Alberta Emergency Alert for the area Saturday evening. As police searched for the suspects, the alert told people to stay inside and lock their doors and windows, to not open their doors to strangers and to report sightings to 911.
The RCMP's shelter-in-place order and the emergency alert were lifted Sunday morning, as police believe the suspects left the vicinity, no longer posing a potentially imminent threat to the community.
"It is scary for our members," Peerless Trout First Nation Chief Gilbert Okemow told CBC News Sunday afternoon, adding that band leadership has been getting texts from members Sunday morning looking for updates.
The highway where police first found the suspects is consistently busy, and some residents have to travel it because they work out of town, Okemow said.
"Our members are in a situation where we don't even know who these individuals are," nor where they're from, he said. Yet, the community knows these people "were up to no good."
Police say the search continues for the people who, around 12:30 p.m. MT Saturday, were armed and robbed multiple firearms from a business near Red Earth Creek, Alta., a hamlet roughly 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, before shooting at someone in the area, according to two separate RCMP news releases.
The suspects fled the scene of the crime and police couldn't find them at the time, RCMP say.
But at 6 p.m., police say they were notified of several sightings of the suspect vehicle, a description of which was not provided in the news releases.
More than two hours later, at 8:15 p.m., RCMP found the suspect vehicle and three suspects along Highway 686, about 3.5 kilometres north of Peerless Trout First Nation, which is roughly 65 kilometres northeast of Red Earth Creek.
When police found them, the suspects appeared to be using a jerry can to fill a truck with gas, RCMP say. They fled into the forest when they spotted police, and officers believed they took three guns with them.
The Alberta Emergency Alert went out at 9:35 p.m. Saturday, after police issued a dangerous-person alert. The initial news release from RCMP, detailing the shelter-in-place, was issued about 10 minutes later.
Police had set up containment and called in resources to help search for the alleged robbers, RCMP say. They combed the area, but by around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, police determined that the suspects were no longer in the area.
The emergency alert was cancelled shortly after 7:15 a.m., and residents were allowed to leave their homes again.
Although police believe the suspects are no longer near Peerless Trout First Nation, RCMP said Sunday morning that the suspects were still considered armed and dangerous.
Police advised the public to stay clear of the suspects if they spot them, and call 911 instead.