EDMONTON — Two men were killed in the early hours of the morning Friday when they were shot during a pair of convenience store holdups in Edmonton.
Police said one man died in hospital after a robbery at a south-side Mac's store about 3:30 a.m. A second man died during a holdup less than 15 minutes later at another Mac's store several blocks away.
Police said three suspects were arrested after a brief police chase along Whitemud Drive, a major city freeway, that ended underneath an overpass.
"A suspect vehicle led officers on a criminal flight," police spokeswoman Patrycia Thenu said. "The vehicle was actually intercepted and apparently had crashed as well."
Investigators were checking to see whether the robberies were connected.
Details about the shooting victims were not immediately available.
A man delivering newspapers said he stops at one of the stores daily as he follows his route and felt something was wrong.
"You get to know the people that are there and you say 'hi' to each other every morning, so it was just strange when they weren't there to say our normal greetings," Darcy Schulz told Global Edmonton.
"I ran across a couple officers and I just expressed my concern," he said. "They ... came and checked it out and I guess they found what they found."
Mac's officials were not immediately available for comment.