The RCMP said Thursday one of the deceased is the man responsible for the deaths of the other three victims and shooting the fourth.
Police received a 911 call shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday to answer reports of multiple gunshots about a kilometre north of Claresholm. When Mounties arrived at the scene they found two vehicles on the northbound lanes of the highway.
One man and one woman were found dead at the scene, while another man and woman were wounded. Both were taken to a Calgary hospital but the man later died of his injuries.
The injured woman is expected to recover, the RCMP said in a statement.
The fourth man is dead of an apparent suicide.
All the deaths and injuries were caused by gunshots, said RCMP Sgt Patrick Webb.
The shootings have been the main topic of conversation in Claresholm, a town of 3,700 about a 90-minute drive south of Calgary.
“People were saying they moved here to avoid this kind of thing that happens in Calgary or other big cities,” said Iqbal Nurmohamed, who owns the Bluebird Motel, about three kilometres from the scene of the shootings.
Nurmohamed said other residents in town have told him that the incident began at the local all-night grocery store.
Claresholm Mayor David Moore said people don’t know if the people involved are locals or were visiting the area.
“It’s a tragedy and it’s just too early to tell what happened,” he said in an interview.
The Guardian newspaper in Charlottetown reported Thursday that three of the victims were from the east coast. Two Prince Edward Island men were among the victims and the woman recovering in hospital was formerly from Charlottetown.
The two P.E.I. residents were heading to the Calgary airport to catch a flight, the newspaper reported. It was believed they were returning home after attending the Prairie Baseball Academy.
Friends have identified the two men as Tanner Craswell and Mitch Maclean. Both men played last year on the Lethbridge Bulls, part of the Western Major Baseball League.
The victims were all in their early 20s and the relationships between the deceased and the injured are now part of the investigation.
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