The two 22-year-old brothers who died in a shootout with police at a Saanich bank last week were likely motivated by money and thrill-seeking, and their choices indicate they were amateurs, says a University of Alberta criminologist. Isaac and Mathew Auchterlonie of the Cowichan Valley were killed at the Bank of Montreal branch on Shelbourne Street on June 28.
Temitope Oriola, a professor of criminology and sociology, said money was likely the central motive, and the thrill of getting money would have been on the men’s minds more than the possibility of injury or death.
“At age 22, unless they were on a suicide mission, they would likely not have fully calculated or appreciated the risks they were assuming and the possibility that their mission might fail spectacularly,” said Oriola, president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association.
“This inability to think through one’s conduct is common among younger offenders.”
The two would have deliberately picked the suburban Shelbourne branch because of its location and smaller size, likely viewing it as an easier target than a larger bank with more sophisticated security, Oriola said.
“There is also the question of the capacity of the young men. They chose a branch that would have the quantity of cash two or three persons would be able to handle reasonably swiftly.”
Explosives were later found in a vehicle believed to be linked to the men, an older-model white Toyota Camry with two black racing stripes. It was parked facing the border of the bank’s parking lot, meaning it would have had to be backed out before being driven away. Oriola said the brothers were amateurs and “it showed in the choices they made.”
“The position of their vehicle demonstrated their level of reasoning and know-how regarding their criminal activity. Most criminal activities require a degree of mastery and finesse unless the aim is to go to prison or die in the process.”
Dozens of police officers responded and six — all with the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team — were injured in the shootout. Three remain in hospital, with one Saanich officer in the intensive care unit.
About 20 bank staff and customers were in the building.
A now-deleted Instagram account attributed to Isaac Auchterlonie shows one of the brothers firing a weapon outdoors and includes anti-government, anti-vaccine sentiments. He calls himself “Canadian, Patriot, WW2 Pacific war enthusiastus [sic]” and lists interests including nature and firearms.
The Instagram posts are not surprising, Oriola said. “Those attitudes and beliefs — right-wing, anti-government beliefs and hyper-masculinist performative displays of weapons — are very much in character. The Canadian Forces recognize that this is a problem within their ranks and among some (by no means all) of those attracted to serve.” Mathew Auchterlonie had tried enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces but failed its entrance exam.
Oriola said he’s also not surprised by the brothers’ age, noting most perpetrators of violent crime are young men.
The Saanich shootout is just the latest episode in a worrying trend of “troubled and troubling young men executing dastardly firearms and homicidal crimes, particularly within the last five years,” he said. Easy access to weapons, particularly among “young impressionable males suffering status frustration,” has potentially disastrous consequences for society, he said.
In 2018, two Port Alberni teens, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, set off a national manhunt after they murdered three people in northern B.C. They left videos admitting to the killings and died in an apparent suicide in northern Manitoba.
In an interview Wednesday with Stephen Quinn, host of CBC Radio’s The Early Edition, Saanich Police Chief Dean Duthie revealed how little information the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team had when it was diverted to the scene from a nearby, unrelated call. Members arrived in a white van, which was subsequently seen with bullet holes in its windshield.
The team “had to respond live, like on the fly,” Duthie said. “So the information that was coming in was very limited because it was being learned second-by-second. …
“It was very fluid and a very difficult response to make, but it was done quickly and very effectively.”
Duthie said emergency response team training is intense and specialized, and includes scenarios such as hostage incidents, active threats and emergency care.
Close to $200,000 has been raised for the injured officers through a Go Fund Me campaign created by the Saanich Police Association and the Victoria City Police Union.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
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