Judge calls armoured car shooter a cold-blooded coward during sentencing

EDMONTON – An Edmonton judge says an armoured car guard who gunned down his crewmates is a coward and a cold-blooded murderer.

Justice John Rooke is sentencing Travis Baumgartner, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and a charge of attempted murder.

He shot his fellow G4S guards during a routine night shift reloading bank machines at the University of Alberta in June 2012.

Court heard that Baumgartner was in debt after buying a new truck, owed friends money and had fought with his mother about paying rent before the killings.

Rooke called Baumgartner’s actions senseless, saying he could simply have taken the money and run rather than leaving three people dead and a fourth seriously wounded.

The Crown and defence have agreed to a sentence of life without parole for 40 years under a new federal law which allows for a longer period of parole ineligibility for mass murderers.