Police defended their actions Monday after a suspect in a string of armed holdups was shot dead in the street following a shootout with Canmore RCMP.

The shooting, at a busy intersection surrounded by supermarkets and other businesses, occurred about an hour after a woman was robbed at gunpoint inside a day spa.

It was the third such robbery in as many days, leaving many residents on edge and victims feeling terrorized.

"Absolutely," said Sgt. Patrick Webb, when asked if officers acted appropriately. "We have an individual with a handgun in a threatening manner and has for the last few days been committing armed robberies. Our members, we believe, acted appropriately."

RCMP said shots were fired after the man, believed to be in his 60s, confronted two officers during a traffic stop.

"The suspect exited the car and produced a handgun in a threatening manner," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.

The two officers, whom Webb described as experienced, both shot at the man, who was treated at the scene but later died at hospital in Canmore.

Neither officer was injured.

RCMP believe the man is responsible for at least three armed robberies in Canmore since Saturday, Webb said.

The most recent happened at 3 p.m. Monday. A woman was paying her bill after receiving a manicure when a man in a winter coat, wearing a hood and a mask, entered and demanded money from her and the female proprietor.

"He pointed a gun right at my face and demanded money," said the customer, who declined to give her name. "It looked to me like a fake gun, but who knows?" she said.

After getting about $30 -- the salon owner keeps no cash, she said -- the man told both women to go to the back of the salon and then left. The woman immediately called 911.

"They (police) were there right away. I think they had a lot of police in town because of the robberies. There were police everywhere in town today. I guess they were looking for him. I'm assuming they were waiting for him to strike again."

"I'm pretty shaken. Things like this don't happen in Canmore."

Witnesses to the gunfire say shots were fired moments after two police vehicles boxed in the man's car.

Chris Patterson, 24, watched the incident unfold directly below the balcony of his Railway Avenue condominium.

Two police cruisers hemmed in the man as he was turning into the Safeway parking lot, he said. As one of the officers approached, the man opened the door of his car and the officer opened fire.

"He opened the door and that's when the officer behind, he shot. (The officer) ran behind the car and shot twice more."

The officer in the second car also fired a shot, Patterson said.

"The bad guy, I'm pretty sure he got a shot off as well," Patterson said.

"I heard five shots. There might have been six. I saw the police shoot first, as soon as the door opened."

Patterson's condo is on the passenger side of the suspect's vehicle, preventing him from clearly seeing the suspect. "I didn't even really see him."

When the shooting stopped, Patterson said he could see a man lying on the ground, surrounded by four police officers "with their guns drawn, making sure he wasn't moving."

With Canmore's emergency services just a block away, an ambulance arrived almost immediately, said Patterson.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating the actions of the RCMP.

Webb said the man shot Monday fits the description of the suspect in two weekend robberies that began Saturday afternoon at the Siesta Sun spa, when a man entered the business and produced a handgun.

He handed a paper bag to the employee, instructing her to give him cash from the register before fleeing.

On Sunday night, the Oak Barrel liquor store on Bow Valley Trail was robbed.

Nineteen year old employee Samantha Hofman was working alone at the store when a man walked in with a gun in one hand and a Christmas gift bag in the other.

"He told me that this was a holdup and to put the money in the bag," said Hofman.

The gun was poking in her right side.

She filled the man's Christmas bag with cash from the till and shoved it at him.

He told her to run to the beer cooler and stay there.

After what felt like 15 minutes Hofman called police.

On Monday, the same day the suspect was shot and killed by police, she quit her job.

"I am scared it will happen again, even though he's gone it could be someone else next time," said Hofman. "I just can't believe the way this ended."

smassinon@calgaryherald.comrremington@calgaryherald.com