Travis Baumgartner is taken out of a van by Canadian Border Services officers at the Aldergrove, B.C. border crossing, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Baumgartner was stopped by customs at the United States border as he tried to enter the U.S. Baumgartner allegedly shot and killed three G4S guards during a robery in Edmonton on Friday.Jonathan Hayward
United States border officers have arrested the lone suspect after a triple homicide at the University of Alberta Friday, ending a 36-hour manhunt.
Travis Baumgartner, 21, was arrested and taken into custody after 3 p.m. local time Saturday at the border crossing to Lynden, Wash., 25 kilometres southwest of Abbotsford, B.C., and near the Canadian town of Aldergrove.
He was arrested without incident, police said, and was turned over to the Canadian Border Services Agency and the RCMP. Mr. Baumgartner, who worked for the private security company G4S Solutions Canada, will be charged with three counts of first-degree murder and another of attempted murder. The suspect is accused of killing three of his coworkers, shooting and severely wounding a fourth before fleeing with an armoured vehicle and, later, his Ford F-150 pickup truck.
The same truck, with fake Alberta license plates, was also seized at the border crossing.
Police found no weapons in Mr. Baumgartner's vehicle. But according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release, officers discovered a backpack stuffed with Canadian money "suspected of being the proceeds from the armoured car robbery." It was reported to be more than $330,000.
"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," said Bob Hassel, the superintendent of criminal investigation for Edmonton police.
News of the arrest brought smiles to the family of one of the victims.
"We're very happy... that he was arrested," said Dianne Ilesic, mother of Brian Ilesic, one of the three guards killed. Speaking from her family's Edmonton-area home Saturday evening, Ms. Ilesic said the family is trying to celebrate their son's memory, and will wait to see justice take its course in the case of Mr. Baumgartner.
"It's a hard time. We're having memories of Brian, and we're having some pretty good laughter. But overall we have to have some laughter to cover up so much sadness," she said.
G4S Cash Solutions, the security company that Mr. Baumgartner and the shooting victims all worked for, also praised the arrest.
"We applaud the dedication of the Edmonton Police Service, and other law enforcement agencies in apprehending Travis Baumgartner today," spokeswoman Robin Steinberg said in a written statement. "Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the victims and also with the Baumgartner family."
Mr. Baumgartner had been on the run with a "significant" amount of money, and possibly a gun and body armour, police said earlier in the day.
But police had little idea where he was, instead casting a wide net, issuing Canada-wide warrants and pleading with any friend who'd heard from the suspect to come forward.
The border crossing at which Mr. Baumgartner was arrested is in a rural area of Aldergrove, B.C. A herd of cows could be seen just a few hundred metres from the crossing Saturday night.
As more and more media arrived on scene, curious onlookers rolled down their windows and asked what caused all the fuss.
Sheila Smith and Robyn Jones work at a duty shop near the crossing, but neither woman heard any kind of commotion or sirens.
"We just said, 'Thank God he didn't come in here and buy water,'" Ms. Smith said.
Mr. Baumgartner's arrest brings to end a saga that began fewer than 48 hours earlier.
He had argued with his mother on Thursday evening, before what would be his last shift with the security company.
Later that night, he was among a five-person team making a stop at the University of Alberta. Around 12:10 a.m. Friday morning, gunfire broke out, leaving three other guards dead and a fourth in hospital.
Among the dead are Michelle Shegelski, 26, who had worked for the company since 2008, Eddie Rejano, 39, and Mr. Ilesic, 35, two new employees she was training.
A fourth guard, Matthew Schuman, was in hospital. There was no update Saturday on the condition of Mr. Schuman, who is also a military firefighter based at CFB Edmonton.
Mr. Baumgartner, 21, was missing after the shooting, as was the armoured van - later recovered near the G4S offices in east Edmonton.
Police had initially called him a person of interest, before announcing Friday afternoon - 15 hours after the shooting - that they had issued the warrants for his arrest.
The suspect's mother, Sandy Baumgartner, made a plea Friday evening for him to turn himself in safely.
"I'm sorry that we had an argument last night, and had bad words between us, but I want you to come home and do the right thing. Let's work this out together," she said in a statement released by police.
Investigators have so far declined to reveal the amount of money he's alleged to have taken.
With files from Sunny Dhillon and Paige Ellis