Craigflower Bridge and Victoria’s City Hall to light up blue in support of police officers

Several major infrastructures around Greater Victoria will be lit up in blue this week as a show of support for police around the region, following last Tuesday’s shootout at a BMO in Saanich.

In a tweet Tuesday, the District of Saanich announced they would be lighting the Craigflower Bridge and Municipal Hall as a gesture of support for police officers in the region.

The municipality said it was their way of showing of support from staff and the community.

The City of Victoria also announce that City Hall would also be lighting up in blue as for of support from their staff and community.

“We thank you for your service and your courage in keeping our communities safe,” read the tweet from City of Victoria.

The announcement was made shortly after Saanich Police released an update on the condition of three of the six officers injured in a shootout with two men outside of a bank last week.

All six officers are members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT), three officers are with VicPD and three are with Saanich Police.

Officers with the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team who were nearby for an unrelated incident, and additional Saanich and Victoria police departments responded to a call that two armed men had entered the bank located in the 3600-block of Shelbourne Street in Saanich.

Two heavily armed men, identified on Saturday as two brothers from Duncan, engaged in a shootout with officers outside of the building.

During the gunfight, members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team were shot and the brothers died at the scene. At the time, three officers suffered potentially life threatening injuries.

In a media release Monday, Saanich Police said they would be releasing the names of the injured officers in a live press conference Tuesday, however, after consulting with family, Chief Constable Dean Duthie said the names would no longer be revealed.

Two of the Saanich Police officers injured are still in hospital, one remains in ICU and has undergone three surgeries to date.

The third member was released the same day of the incident.

Chief Constable Dean Duthie did not release any update on the injured VicPD officers, one of whom still remains in hospital. VicPD is expected to provide an update on the condition of their detachment’s officers at a later time.

A GoFundMe for the injured officers and their families has been created and has surpassed $180,000 as of this publication. You can donate to the GoFundMe here.

In addition to the GoFundMe, you can send Saanich PD and VicPD your well-wishes here