St. Albert RCMP released a sketch on June 23 of a male suspect connected to a string of armed carjackings that sent all city schools into semi-lockdown the week prior.
The investigation into the carjackings is ongoing, Burroughs said in a release last week, and RCMP are still seeking the public's help in tracking down the suspect.
RCMP received reports about a series of carjackings in St. Albert early on June 16.
Three suspects hijacked a blue Toyota Corolla on the road near St. Albert Trail and Sturgeon Road at about 8:45 a.m., Cst. MJ Burroughs said in a press conference that afternoon. Police then got reports of two attempted carjackings in downtown St. Albert before hearing of a successful one on Marion Crescent, which is close to St. Albert Catholic High. The suspects used a handgun or replica handgun in all four incidents.
RCMP ordered all St. Albert schools and select daycares to enter a hold and secure at about 9:30 a.m. (A hold and secure is when schools lock their outer doors to anyone but police due to a threat outside of the school. It is distinct from a lockdown, where schools lock inside and outside doors due to a threat inside the school.)
Burroughs said police took this step as a protective measure because the carjackers appeared to be armed and moving around town, making them concerned for the schools. The hold-and-secure order was lifted at about 10:30 a.m.
RCMP recovered the Toyota on Madison Avenue and arrested two males, Burroughs said. Police have yet to lay charges. There were no injuries or shots fired during the carjackings or arrests.
Burroughs said the third suspect was still at large and may be armed, as police had not recovered the suspected firearm.
“We don’t believe that individual is in St. Albert,” she said at the time, and police believed the suspect had gone into the Edmonton area.
Also unaccounted for was the second stolen vehicle: a 2007 red Jeep Compass, Alberta license plate number CHV-5953. Burroughs asked anyone who saw this vehicle not to approach it, as its driver may be armed, and to instead call police.
RCMP, in a release on June 18, said they were continuing to look for the suspect, "who used a firearm to carjack two individuals Wednesday morning."
The first male arrested June 16 was found to be in possession of stolen property and was charged with possession of property obtained by a crime and possession of break-in instruments.
He was released from custody on an undertaking.
The second male arrested June 16 was released from custody the same day without charges.
Police are looking for anyone with dash-camera video who may have been in the area of the intersection at Sturgeon Road/St. Anne Street and St. Albert Trail between 8 and 9 a.m. on June 16 (the location of the first carjacking).
They are also looking for anyone with security-camera or door-bell camera footage in the Mission neighbourhood along St. Vital Avenue between 8:45 and 11 a.m. that shows either of the two vehicles that were carjacked.
The red Jeep Compass has still not been recovered.
Anyone with information on these crimes should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700.
