Red Deer City RCMP are investigating a brazen downtown bank robbery in broad daylight on Monday afternoon.
At approximately 3:30 p.m. police attended the Servus Credit Union at 4901 48th St. after a lone male entered the bank brandishing a gun and demanding money.
Cpl. Kathe DeHeer says the suspect, believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, made off with an undisclosed amount of money. There were a number of employees and customers in the bank at the time of the incident, however, no one was injured.
“With customers in the bank and a lot of employees it is very brazen, especially when your are brandishing a gun, there is a lot of potential for a lot of things to go wrong,” DeHeer said.
The downtown scene was the talk of passersby around 4 p.m. and a “closed until further notice” sign was placed on the Servus Credit Union door as police interviewed staff inside.
A man who only wanted to be identified as Eugene said he came to the bank to deposit some cash.
“And I saw the flashing lights at my bank, some guy took our money,” he said.
“It is not good when you see cop cars surrounding a bank,” another passerby of the Servus Credit Union, said.
Investigators are reviewing video surveillance they were able to retrieve from the bank, which will help their investigation, DeHeer said. The images will be made available once officers have had time to download them.
The suspect is described as Caucasian, approximately 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall and thin in build. He was wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans and sunglasses.
DeHeer says they don’t have information with respect to the involvement of a vehicle.
“These types of events are very traumatic to the people involved who work in the bank and for the customers and our Victim Services is working with those victims to help them cope through this,” DeHeer said.
Police are asking for the public to contact Red Deer City RCMP at 403-343-5575 if they have information regarding the identity of the man. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or report it online at www.tipsubmit.com. If information leads to an arrest, tipsters are eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.
jjones@www.reddeeradvocate.com