The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is taking the lead in the investigation into a police pursuit that ended in a tragic highway crash that killed two people on Friday.
Medicine Hat police responded to a 911 call from a female at a home in the city on November 22, 2013, at about 10:25 a.m.
The woman appeared to be in distress and when police arrived they found the residence had been vacated.
They say evidence in the home led them to believe that the female caller was at significant risk of immediate harm.
Police were able to associate a vehicle to the residence and set up containment points in the area.
The vehicle was spotted travelling westbound on the Trans-Canada highway west of Redcliff, Alberta.
Medicine Hat police attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver fled and a pursuit was initiated.
RCMP took over the responsibility for the pursuit from Medicine Hat Police near Suffield.
The vehicle was then involved in a crash with a semi tractor-trailer unit and the occupants of the vehicle were killed as a result.
The driver of the truck was transported to hospital with minor injuries and released.
Friends and neighbours say the victims in the fatal crash were Branden Anderson and Crystal Trotchie.
"They were very friendly neighbours and visited back and forth with them when we were outside and they were just a nice young couple," said neighbour Janie Rouse.
The Medicine Hat Police Service is also conducting an investigation and police are treating the incident as domestic related.
(With files from Kaella Carr)
