The robberies and shootings at two different Edmonton Mac’s convenience stores happened fast. There was just 20 minutes between the December 18, 2015 attacks that left Karanpal Bhangu and Ricky Cenabre dead.
On Monday, Laylin Delorme’s first-degree murder trial heard police wanted to be faster.
“There was a possibility, we believed, for a third attack,” Const. David McCracken testified.
He and his partner, Const. Daniel White, both carried carbine rifles in their cruiser so they were called to the Mac’s store in Pleasantview to cover K9 officers during a search for the suspects.
The trail quickly went cold so they went hunting for the suspects.
The pair, along with dozens of other officers, were sent pictures of the suspects acquired from store surveillance camera footage of the attacks. One of the suspects wore a distinctive grey jacket.
Patrols conducted what they called a “grid search” of the city. They systematically drove up and down streets and looked for all-night convenience stores.
WATCH MORE: Murder trial views violent Mac’s store robbery footage
McCracken and White pulled into a Mac’s store in Edmonton’s Callingwood neighbourhood in the west end.
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They saw a Honda Element idling in front of the store, court heard Monday. The officers found that strange, so they pulled up next to it and looked inside the cab.
“I looked over and saw two males,” McCracken testified. “One was wearing a black hat. The other was wearing a grey jacket.”
He said it looked identical to the jacket seen in the surveillance video. McCracken added the men were sitting there, apparently finishing a McDonald’s meal.
The man in the grey jacket and sunglasses leaned forward and looked directly at the officers.
At that point, McCracken’s partner, White testified he said: “These are the murder suspects. Back up, back up, back up.”
White said he knew the Mac’s store suspects were armed.
“If we were to get into a gunfight, I’d rather be behind them.”
McCracken backed up, they ran the Element’s licence plate and discovered it was stolen.
WATCH MORE: Jury shown more disturbing video in deadly Mac’s store robberies
Before they could do anything else, the SUV raced away. McCracken and White followed and the chase moved onto Whitemud Drive.
The officers testified the Element drove east at speeds reaching 140 km/h. Road conditions were poor, though. When the Element swerved across several lanes of traffic at the Terwillegar interchange, it lost control and slammed into a concrete median.
“It was a violent crash with the wheels actually going up in the air,” McCracken testified.
The SUV then spun around and came to rest in the ditch.
The two officers both grabbed their rifles and leapt from their cruiser. McCracken said he jumped over a concrete centre median for cover. They were both worried about the weapon they believed the suspects had.
READ MORE: Officer testifies at trial for Edmonton convenience store murders: ‘He was gasping for air’
McCracken yelled at the three people he could see in the vehicle and ordered them to come out.
A few minutes later, when more police officers arrived with their own weapons drawn, the suspects left the crashed Element and walked backwards across the freeway and were taken into custody.
Delorme and Colton Steinhauer were arrested and later charged with first-degree murder and weapons offences.
Steinhauer was wearing the grey jacket. Surveillance video shows a person in the grey jacket shot one of the clerks while the man wearing a black hoodie shot the other.
A third person, a 13-year-old boy, was also in the vehicle and was also arrested and charged in connection with the robberies and killings.
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