Some residents of residential northeast Sundre initially thought they heard gunshots as the RCMP emergency response team was deployed.
SUNDER – Residents of a northeast Sundre subdivision were shocked as they began their daily routine this morning to hear what some initially thought were gunshots or explosives when RCMP raided a suspected drug house.
“I didn’t see much, but we heard things,” said Kim Free, who lives a block away from a property on 10th Ave. NE, where an RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) was deployed just after 7 a.m. on Friday, July 21.
“In the beginning there were sirens and stuff,” Free said. “And then we heard the cops over the loudspeakers saying things like, ‘Everybody stay home.'”
Free was already busy packing and getting ready to go camping with her husband Blaine and little daughter Piper.
“So we were ready; We had the windows open last night because it was a hot day,” he said. “That’s how we heard the sirens and the conversation over the speakers.”
Curiosity got the better of them, and the family went up on the back porch to better hear what was going on, he said, adding that police issued more directives over the loudspeaker moments before a pair of loud shots that they thought were gunshots.
“We were trying to look over the trees and see where it was coming from,” he said.
“It sounded further away than it turned out to be. It sounded like it was more on Snake Hill (further west), so we felt we were far enough away to be safe. But then it was quite surprising to hear those shots so close. My daughter got really angry because it was so loud,” he said.
“She thought it was actually a bomb, so she wanted to go in,” Free said, adding that at that point they immediately returned to their home.
Kari Martens, who was also getting ready to go out and enjoy some summer weather with her husband and three young children and had been up since 5 a.m., lives just a couple of houses from the property police raided.
“We were sitting on the couch watching TV and shortly after 7 (am), we heard a siren piercing our ears,” Martens said, adding that he didn’t see anything for the next few moments.
“All of a sudden the armed truck came in followed by a ghost car and they just stopped,” he said, adding that numerous armed officers got out and proceeded to slash the tires of one truck before setting up a perimeter.
“Shortly after that, we heard a couple of smoke bombs and then a lot of screaming,” he said.
“As soon as I heard the smoke bombs going off, because it honestly sounded like gunshots and I didn’t know what it was, I got the kids downstairs, locked the doors and set the alarm,” Martens said, adding that she kept a watchful eye out her living room window that offers a partial view of the property.
Martens, who spoke to the Albertan woman from her driveway as she secured a floating donut in the back of a pick-up truck preparing for a day of swimming, said she witnessed police remove three people from the home: a young woman, a man and a woman.
He said officers immediately took the man to the gun truck.
“It’s just that they were here … it’s been a long time,” she said, adding that in the past five years since they’ve lived there, they’ve seen the occasional police presence, but never a large presence like this.
“I’m glad they were finally able to do it,” she said.
Sgt. Sundre RCMP Detachment Acting Commander Randy Poon said the investigation remains ongoing and an official statement will be issued today.
However, the sergeant was able to confirm some details.
“It was a search warrant at a drug house,” said Poon, who acknowledged when asked that the raid was the result of a long-running investigation and that the suspect was on the police radar.
Asked about the loud bangs heard by witnesses, he said: “I can confirm that they were stun grenades. We brought in our ERT because of a history of possible violence.”
The sergeant said this morning about a couple of hours after the incident that investigators were still gathering evidence.
Despite the drama, Free and his family stayed focused on their plans for the weekend and were on the road in no time.
“We’re done packing and heading to the campsite,” he said, talking to the Albertan as we hit the road while Blaine drove.
Asked if they had felt in immediate danger at any point during the ordeal, she said no, adding that she was “just thankful the RCMP kept us safe.”
More to come.
