Suspects in custody after Alberta sheriff shot outside Whitecourt courthouse

Gunfire broke out at an Alberta courthouse Tuesday, leaving an Alberta sheriff wounded. RCMP confirm the two suspects are back in custody.

According to Alberta Justice, the sheriff was shot in the hand at the courthouse in Whitecourt, Alberta, a community northwest of Edmonton.

Lynden McBeth, who works for XM 105 FM, was in court when the terrifying ordeal happened.

"Just a little after 11:30 (a.m.) there was some commotion in the prisoner room, where people waiting to make their appearance were being held," he says.

Radio reporter Kathlene Campbell Conlon says that's when the officer who was in the courtroom got up, hopped the guard rail, and went into the prisoner room.

"Then you just heard like high-pitched screaming, and two, maybe three gunshots," she recalls.

"The courtroom immediately evacuated," McBeth says, "and when I say evacuated, I mean people were actually fleeing because they thought their lives were in danger."

The sheriff who was shot is currently in stable condition.

Mayor Trevor Thain says the two suspects escaped using a sheriff's van. They were nabbed south of the Whitecourt airport shortly thereafter.

Hours later, RCMP were still at the scene of Hwy 32 southwest of Whitecourt, where the suspects were apprehended and which was blocked off by a number RCMP vehicles.

While investigators believe there was a maximum of two suspects, they were trying to rule out the possibility of a third individual being involved. Mayor Thain says RCMP later told him a third man was detained in the incident. However, it's unclear whether he was related to the case.

Staff Sgt. Rod Koscielny tells Global News RCMP were clearing the building at the site of the arrest to ensure there were no other suspects. The roadblock was cleared by 5 p.m.

It's believed shots may have been fired at the rural location, which a forensics team was investigating.

Police from Edson, Grande Prairie and Whitecourt were on scene.

It’s still not clear how the suspects got the firearm used in the shooting.

RCMP say this is a very serious incident and they are treating it as such.

Mayor Thain says the suspects were among those arrested last Thursday in a drug bust in the community.

Police said six people were taken into custody and charged after a raid, which found cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as an illegal firearm.

According to a police news release from the time of the arrest, the suspects are from Whitecourt and were due in court Tuesday.

The courthouse remains taped off.

Alberta's sheriffs are law enforcement officers who come under the province's Solicitor General. They support RCMP and municipal police officers in a variety of roles, including courthouse security and prisoner management and transportation.

"We're all shocked and dismayed about this level of violence perpetrated on one of our frontline officers," said Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Rona Ambrose.

She added that the community has never seen this kind of violence against a law enforcement officer before.

Whitecourt is about 180 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

With files from The Canadian Press