Gunman kills three on highway, then shoots himself dead

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This article was published 16/12/2011 (5261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CLARESHOLM, Alta. — Two promising southern Alberta baseball athletes and a female passenger were gunned down in an overnight roadside rampage near Claresholm.

The shooter, apparently driving alone on the dark highway just north of the town early Thursday morning, sprayed bullets at two men and two women travelling together toward Calgary, before turning the weapon on himself.

One woman survived the attack.

The mass killing stunned the rural Alberta town and devastated friends and families of the victims, all in their 20s.

“I don’t know why. That’s a question that everyone’s going to be asking for a long time — is why. There’s probably no answer to that one,” said Todd Hubka, who’d coached Tanner Craswell and Mitch Maclean at Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge, Alta.

Craswell, who’d turned 22 on Wednesday, and Maclean, 20, were up-and-coming baseball players and best friends.

Originally from Prince Edward Island, the two were heading to the Calgary International Airport to catch an early morning flight home for Christmas.

Shayna Conway, also in her early 20s, survived the shooting. Conway, believed to be the girlfriend of one of the victims, is recovering at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

Teammates of the young men gathered at the baseball academy as the heartbreaking news sunk in

“It’s devastating,” said Hubka. “I love them both. I’ll miss them. They were good kids, good teammates.”

The men graduated from the baseball program last year.

Craswell, who helped coach at the academy, was upgrading some college courses and planned to continue his university education next year.

Maclean was upgrading courses to attend Louisiana State University Shreveport.

They left Lethbridge at about 1 a.m. to catch their early morning flight, said Hubka. The coach said he didn’t know the identity of the woman who was killed in the shooting.

The deadly scene played out at 3:30 a.m.

Claresholm RCMP were called to the northbound lane of Highway 2 north of the town for reports of gunfire.

They found two vehicles and five victims of gunshot wounds.

The gunman shot to death a man and woman at the scene, before killing himself.

A man was flown to Calgary’s Foothills Hospital in critical condition, but later died. A woman was rushed via ground ambulance to the hospital and is recovering.

RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said the woman may be able to provide the only first-hand account of the horrific slayings.

Investigators haven’t yet spoken to the survivor.

“Our primary concern is she recover,” said Webb. “We believe she’s going to be able to provide us with a large amount of information about what happened and the circumstances.”

Early investigation suggests the shooter was driving alone when he confronted the vehicle carrying four passengers.

Police can’t say what type of weapon was used or how many bullets were fired.

Webb said authorities are considering domestic violence as a potential motive, but haven’t reached any conclusions.

RCMP closed a stretch of Highway 2 four kilometres north and south of the town of Claresholm for much of the day Thursday as they investigated the deaths.

— Postmedia News