CALGARY - RCMP say a suspicious incident that closed down one of southern Alberta's busiest highways is a case of a triple murder-suicide.
Officers received reports of gunshots fired around 3:30 AM MT along Highway 2 just north of Claresholm near Township Road 130.
They discovered two men and a woman dead as well as two others suffering from critical injuries. Two vehicles were also found in the northbound lanes of the highway. Four of the victims were found inside one vehicle. Police later towed away a green Pontiac Sunfire and an SUV with the side and back windows blown out.
RCMP say it appears a man shot four people before killing himself. Two of the victims, a man and a woman, died at the scene. Another man was transported to Foothills Hospital in Calgary by STARS air ambulance. He later died.
A second woman was taken to hospital by ambulance. She has been treated for her injuries and is expected to recover.
Autopsies will be performed on all four victims, who were in their early 20s.
RCMP are yet to release the names of the victims or say how they are related, but loved ones are identifying two of the male victims as Mitch Maclean and Tanner Craswell. The two friends had played with the Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge as well as the Lethbridge Bulls in the Western Major Baseball League.
Global News has learned Maclean and Craswell were on their way home to Prince Edward Island for Christmas, and were being driven to the Calgary airport by Craswell's girlfriend, Shayna Conway, also from PEI, and another young woman from Lethbridge, Tabitha Stepple.
It's believed Stepple's ex-boyfriend ran them off the road, then opened fire.
Maclean's girlfriend told Global Lethbridge on Thursday night that the boys didn't know the shooter, and were looking forward to being home for Christmas.
Friends say they were all thinking of the victim's families back in PEI.
They say the two left a mark on southern Alberta that won't be forgotten, and their families should be proud.
Craswell's girlfriend, Conway, is recovering from her injuries in a Calgary hospital.
RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb described the situation as "horrific," and said investigators are still trying to determine why it happened.
Brent Chimko, who lives in the Claresholm area, said people in the community have been abuzz about the violence.
"It is pretty shocking," Chimko told Global News. "I have never seen anything like this. I have seen traffic accidents on the highway that have been bad, but nothing quite like this."
RCMP say they're not looking for any suspects, and no charges will be laid in this case.
The highway was reopened Thursday afternoon.
With files from The Canadian Press, Pete Gregory and Quinn Campbell
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