RCMP seeking possible witness who was near scene of fatal shooting east of Calgary

Witness sought in fatal shooting east of Calgary Strathmore RCMP are looking for a potential witness to Tuesday's fatal shooting in Rocky View County, east of Calgary. Hannah Lepine reports

Police are looking for a possible witness to a fatal shooting that occurred in Rocky View County, east of Calgary, on Tuesday.

Strathmore RCMP officers were called to Township Road 250 and Range Road 282 just before noon for reports of a shooting involving two armed suspects.

Mounties discovered two people who had been shot, one fatally and the other superficially.

In an update Thursday, RCMP provided a picture of a vehicle driven by someone who may have witnessed the shootings.

The vehicle is believed to be a dark-grey Volkswagen Golf SportWagen, potentially between 2013-2015.

The car was seen in dash-cam video driving past the scene at Township Road 250 and Range Road 282 at the time of the shooting – at 11:55 a.m.

"RCMP need to speak to the occupants of this car. It could be critical in obtaining important information for this investigation," RCMP said in a release.

The area is east of the hamlet of Conrich, about 10 kilometres east of Calgary.

Police are asking the owner of the car, or anyone who knows who they may be, to contact Strathmore RCMP at 403-934-3968.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or online through P3 Tips.

RCMP said the suspects fled the scene in a white half-ton pickup truck, which was a Rocky View County fleet vehicle.

Police tracked the vehicle to another location, near Township Road 252 and Range Road 260.

The vehicle had been dumped and the suspects were no longer in the area.

Break-and-enter at nearby rural property

A rural property owner north of Strathmore believes the two suspects used his private campground to evade police after ditching a Rocky View County work truck in a field about two and a half kilometres away.

Mark Stoodley says the land has been passed through generations of his family and he has never seen thieves or vandals target his property.

When he arrived at his fifth-wheel trailer on Wednesday, it had been ransacked.

"It's only a mile and a half away," he said.

"We have all our grandkids here and that and thank God that they weren't here when this happened. Thank God for that."

Stoodley says his property is directly east of where the truck was dumped by the two suspects but outside the containment zone RCMP set up.

Investigators cased through his property on Wednesday, taking fingerprints and other evidence.

At this point, RCMP say there is no indication the suspects were on the property but take all reports of crime seriously in the area.

However, Stoodley says someone was on his property and when the shelter-in-place was lifted Tuesday afternoon, he thought people were safe.

"We thought, well, they must've caught them, we didn't hear anything," Stoodley said.

"I wanted to come down here and pick up something for supper and Pat, my wife, said, no, we're alright. We didn't come down. We came down the next day after lunch and that's when we found that, oh, there's people living here."

On Wednesday, RCMP revealed they were looking into a white 2013 Dodge RAM with teal aftermarket rims and bullet shell shaped lug nuts that was stolen from the 400 block of Abadan Place N.E. in Calgary, just before 6 a.m. on Monday.

Investigators are looking for witnesses or footage of that truck or its occupants from the time of the theft to the time of the shooting.

RCMP re-emphasized Thursday they are not looking for this truck, but are interested in any information about the truck’s whereabouts and who was driving it between Aug. 5 at 5:55 a.m. and Aug. 6 at 11:55 a.m.

Residents of Bearspaw say that truck was in their community on Monday, shortly after it was stolen.

In a community watch group, residents reported seeing it, along with a blue Ford pickup truck, travelling down Badger Road, Lochend Road and Township Road 262.

Homeowners also reported seeing a Caucasian man associated with the truck, wearing a Toronto Raptors jersey, with the number 43 and Pascal Siakam's name on the back.

RCMP say they would like to speak with this person but would not say if he is connected to the shooting the following day.

Residents too afraid to speak on camera say they are on edge that two suspects are still on the run.

One man dead, another injured

The man shot and killed is believed to be an employee of Rocky View County.

A statement posted to the Rocky View County website on Tuesday evening expresses "sadness and shock" over the passing of employee Colin Hough, saying he died "following an incident" that occurred earlier in the day.

The other person shot, who suffered a superficial gunshot wound, was an employee of Fortis Alberta, the company confirmed.

In a statement sent to CTV News, Fortis said the man was performing "routine work" when it happened.

As of Thursday afternoon, the suspects remained at large and were considered to be armed and dangerous.

Police have not yet determined the motive for the violence, but say the shooting was not targeted and the immediate danger in the area is believed to be over.

Suspect descriptions are still unknown.