Four people have died and another is in hospital after an altercation on a southern Alberta highway turned violent.
RCMP in Claresholm received a call about shots fired at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday about 1 km north of the town.
Police responded to the northbound lanes of Highway 2 and found two vehicles.
Three people were found dead at the scene. Police say one of the deceased is the suicide of a male and another deceased male and a female were the two victims.
Two other people were transported from the scene to hospital. A male succumbed to his injuries and died and a female was treated and is expected to recover.
Police say it appears to be a murder/suicide and they are not looking for anyone else in this investigation.
The Guardian, a Charlottetown newspaper is identifying two of the deceased as Mitch MacLean of Cornwall, and Tanner Craswell, of Charlottetown. They say the female who is recovering in hospital is Shayna Conway, also of Charlottetown.
RCMP do not know what the relationship is between the people and say that despite rumors that have been circulating there is no apparent connection to a house fire in the community.
Police say all the deaths are believed to be from gunshot wounds and autopsies will be conducted to confirm the cause of death.
It is believed that the shooter was in one car and the other four people were in the other car.
"We do know the two vehicles were moving repeatley but exactly how they ended up at that location where all these shots were fired is still to be determined so exactly what happened in the proceeding minutes and hours we're still looking into that detail," said RCMP Sergeant Patrick Webb.
Police say a passing motorist called 911.
The highway was originally closed in both directions but the has now been opened to traffic.
