Two suspects involved in a brazen armed robbery in West Kelowna Tuesday remain at large.
“We are considering them armed and dangerous,” Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey said.
At around 3:30 p.m., two masked men burst into the Antler Creek Outfitters Store on Ross Road. One of the suspects held the store owner at gunpoint while the other loaded up a bag with firearms.
‘I won’t be able to get into the specifics of exactly how many firearms were stolen or exactly what types but the fact is there were several taken,” O’Donaghey said.
Shortly after the robbery, a vehicle was set on fire in a field off Gellatly Road near Majoros Road. Police have now linked that vehicle, a full-sized red Ford F350 pick-up truck, to the robbery. Police say it was stolen earlier in the day from a parking lot in the 2300 block of Highway 97 and then used as a get-away vehicle before being torched.
Police launched an air and ground search for the suspects but with no success.
“The RCMP helicopter and a police service dog responded to the area to assist in the search for suspects and possible evidence,” O’Donaghey said.
The Antler Creek Outfitters store is located in a busy shopping strip and neighbouring businesses are expressing shock about a robbery of this magnitude occurring in the middle of the day.
“You have to be pretty gutsy to pull something like this off when there is that much traffic coming in and out of these places,” the manager at Johnny’s Fresh Meats and Deli said.
While the owner of the Antler Creek Outfitters store was too upset to speak on camera, he did tell Global news that the assailants must have scoped out the store beforehand because they knew exactly what they were after and where in the store to get it.
Kelowna RCMP are reviewing the store’s surveillance footage in the hopes of identifying the suspects. They’re asking anyone with any information to contact them.