RCMP say two men and a woman are in custody after the police incident yesterday which shut down the Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt for several hours.

Mounties say it all began around 12:15 p.m. when officers from BC Highway Patrol, the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team, and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC (CFSEU-BC) they tried to pull over a stolen black Dodge Ram pickup, which was spotted near the Coquihalla Summit.

They say three people fled from the vehicle after it got stuck when it went down a side road, with one of them reportedly in possession of a firearm.

Over a dozen construction workers were evacuated from a nearby worksite as police and the Southeast District Emergency Response Team looked for the suspects.

RCMP say while the woman was found a short time later, they closed the Coquihalla around 2:30 in the afternoon as two men were still at large.

“Out of an abundance of caution the highway was closed for several hours while we searched the area for these suspects,” Sgt. Josh Roda of the Merritt RCMP said, in a statement.

“Without knowing their identities or their intentions, and reports indicating they were armed, we felt it was best to keep all members of the public from the scene.”

He says the pair were eventually found and arrested without incident around 6 p.m. in the evening, and taken to the Merritt RCMP Detachment.

“We are aware of the online speculation on the identities of these suspects. Although we are in the preliminary stages of this investigation, there is no indication that these suspects are related to any recent high-profile events in the Lower Mainland, or Merritt,” Roda added, noting the truck was stolen out of Coquitlam and the licence plate from Langley.

RCMP say anyone with dash-camera video who was near the area of the Juliet Bridge, near the Coquihalla Summit, between 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. yesterday, should reach out to the Merritt RCMP at 250-378-4262.