BOYLE – Boyle RCMP were on high alert Aug. 10 at the request of the Cold Lake RCMP and the RCMP Major Crimes Unit after suspects in a murder fled the scene and were at large.
On Aug. 9 Cold Lake RCMP were called to the Petro Canada gas station on Highway 28 at approximately 1 a.m. after a man was shot in the parking lot. Four suspects were seen fleeing in a stolen 2018 black Nissan Murano with Alberta plates.
When the suspects were unable to be located that night, the surrounding detachments were asked to help contain the Bonnie Lake area four kilometres northeast of Vilna – 122 km southeast of Boyle – with Boyle, Smoky Lake, Redwater and St. Paul RCMP assisting, said Cpl. Ronald Bumbry, the East Area Division (EAD) media relations officer.
“We did send out a release about sort of a lockdown, but telling members of the public that there could be a person in the Vilna area and in Bonnie Lake and that's where the Boyle detachment assisted multiple other detachments,” Bumbry said.
The public was requested to remain away from the Bonnie Lake area while RCMP evacuated the local golf course and were able to apprehend three of the four suspects.
The Boyle, Smoky Lake, Redwater and St. Paul detachments heightened patrols around the Vilna area to keep an eye out for the suspect and discourage civilians from entering the area.
“They were patrolling in the area because we weren't sure we had him contained to a certain area. If he would have broken containment, we had surrounding detachments kind of circling or encompassing their area too,” said Bumbry.
The suspect was arrested and taken into custody Aug. 11 at approximately 3 a.m., near Highway 28 and Range Road 130 by RCMP Police Dog Services and responding officers.
On Aug. 12 the RCMP Major Crimes Unit charged two people with the shooting in Cold Lake.
Bryan Collins, 25, of Elizabeth Metis Settlement and a 17-year-old male youth, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, have been charged with second degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Kevin Evans, also of Elizabeth Metis Settlement.
Collins is set to appear in Cold Lake Provincial Court via CCTV on Aug. 19 and the youth is scheduled to appear in St. Paul Provincial Youth Court on Aug. 26.
The two other suspects detained in relation to the shooting were not formally charged and the 2018 Black Nissan Murrano was recovered.
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @HLSox
