The chief of police in Saanich, British Columbia, says it is truly amazing that no members of the public were hurt during a gunfight at a bank in which two robbery suspects died.

Chief Const. Dean Duthie says two suspects who were believed to be wearing body armour died Tuesday in the gun battle with police outside a Bank of Montreal. 

Six members of the Greater Victoria emergency response team were hurt, three of them seriously enough to require surgery. 

Duthie says the emergency response team happened to be deployed nearby and was on the scene within minutes.

He called the scene "chaotic, tragic, dynamic and violent" and says he is grateful that neither employees of the bank nor any member of the public were hurt.

Police lifted a shelter-in-place advisory later Tuesday after officers determined there were no other suspects.

They also evacuated an area around the bank over concern about a possible explosive device in the vehicle that was believed to have been used by the suspects. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.