U.S. border officials in Lynden nab Canadian shooting suspect

EDMONTON, Alberta – The man wanted in a deadly armored car heist at a university in western Canada that left three armed guards dead has been arrested by U.S. border officials in Washington state, police said Saturday.

Edmonton police Supt. Bob Hassel said in a news release that Travis Baumgartner was stopped near a border crossing in Lynden, Wash., southwest of Abbotsford, B.C. Officials said Baumgartner was in his pickup truck and was alone.

Police said a sum of money was found in the truck when Baumgartner was arrested. Police had earlier called it a “significant” sum.

Baumgartner, 21, had been on the run since Friday when four armed guards were gunned down, three of them fatally. He faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Baumgartner was the fifth member of a G4S Cash Solutions crew that was reloading bank machines at a University of Alberta mall and residence where the shooting happened, police said. The armored truck was found abandoned but running not far from the security company’s offices. Dead at the scene were Michelle Shegelski, 26; Eddie Rejano, 39; and Brian Ilesic, 35.

“We’re grateful to the border officials at Lynden, Washington, for their excellent work in arresting a man we believe was armed and extremely dangerous,” Hassel said in a statement. Canadian police officials were on their way to the U.S. to bring Baumgartner back to Edmonton.

Police had launched an international manhunt to find Baumgartner.

G4S Cash Solutions spokeswoman Robin Steinberg said the company would conduct its own investigation into the shooting. The company said Baumgartner had only been on the job for three months.

Steinberg said in a statement: “Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the victims and also with the Baumgartner family.”

Baumgartner’s mother issued a statement Friday pleading for her son to surrender and apologizing for an argument they had.

Police said Baumgartner was driving his Ford F-150 truck with an Alberta license plate when he was arrested.

Baumgartner lived with his mother and stepsister in Sherwood Park, a small community just east of Edmonton.