Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Search continues for hijacker

By Vernon Daily Courier staffTuesday, July 18, 2006 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_374.php
The search continues for the suspect who hijacked a Vancouver Airport shuttle bus and forced the driver at gunpoint to drive to Vernon on Saturday afternoon.Cpl. Henry Proce of the Vernon RCMP said that on the trip to Vernon the suspect had the driver stop twice – once for a bathroom break and once for food. When they stopped for a third time, this time in Vernon, the driver escaped.When the suspect stopped to use an ATM in Vernon the driver found enough time to get away. He ran to a nearby phone and called police, but the suspect escaped before the RCMP arrived. The phone call was the first the police had heard of the hijacking, Proce said.Police have said that the suspect is armed and dangerous but it is not known whether or not the man is still in Vernon.
“We don’t know if Vernon was his final destination or where he was headed,” Proce said.The driver was uninjured in what Proce said must have been a “traumatic” experience. He said the man returned to Vancouver on Sunday.Police have not yet received any tips from witnesses but did say there is some forensic evidence including photos from the ATM and a lot of information provided by the shuttle bus driver.“Obviously they talked in the five hours they were together we just haven’t been able to locate the suspect,” he said.The suspect is described as a 40-year-old man who was wearing a white baseball cap, glasses, black cowboy boots and a light blue, long sleeved shirt covering a white T-shirt with black lettering on it.Anyone who witnessed the incident or may have information about the suspect is asked to call the Vernon RCMP at 545-7171 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

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