The RCMP Major Crimes Unit is investigating, after a violent encounter at a northern Alberta work camp left two dead, and a suspect in hospital.

RCMP said at about 1:50 a.m. Tuesday, Fox Creek RCMP officers were called to a work camp southwest of Fox Creek – where a man armed with a knife was reportedly attacking people.

Officers arrived at the camp, called Berland Open, to find two people dead.

“They located two deceased persons and shortly thereafter, located a male armed with a knife,” Cst. Jason Curtis with RCMP said. “An altercation ensued and police firearms were discharged at the male.”

RCMP said he was being treated for those wounds, officers were not injured.

The camp is operated by Canada North. CTV News spoke with Tyler McCracken, executive VP of DJ Catering, a sister company of the operators – he said they are aware of the incident, and officials have been in contact with RCMP.

McCracken told CTV News the camp is a standard workforce housing camp, with clients and staff on site – the number of people housed at the camp varies depending on the season.

“This time of year, it’s typically a little bit slower, but it can be anywhere from three to four staff to, well Berland isn’t that big of a camp, so we wouldn’t see more than 15 to 20 staff at any given time,” McCracken said.

The VP said the company is waiting for RCMP to complete their investigation into the ‘difficult’ situation.

“They need to contact the victims and go through all the procedures that come along with something of this severity,” McCracken said.

“We typically would not see an incident like this in our industry.”

McCracken said everyone who was on site would be questioned by police, but he wasn’t sure what would happen beyond that.

“I assume a number [of staff] will want to return home,” McCracken said. “We will be making available whatever services we can to help our staff.”

The victims have not yet been identified.

ASIRT is investigating the discharge of the officers’ firearms.

“It’s a two-pronged approach,” Cpl. Carol McKinley said. “ASIRT investigates the members discharging the firearms and then our Major Crimes Unit from the RCMP will be investigating the homicide portion of it.”

With files from Susan Amerongen