EDMONTON - A 21-year-old man accused of killing three guards and injuring another during an armoured car heist is to appear Thursday in an Edmonton court where he will be charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

The Edmonton Police Service confirmed that Travis Baumgartner was escorted back to Alberta on Wednesday from British Columbia, where he had been held since being picked up at the border.

Police said he was processed and taken to the Edmonton Remand Centre.

Baumgartner will also be charged with four counts of robbery using a firearm.

Authorities initially would not confirm that Baumgartner had been returned when an RCMP plane landed at the downtown airport just before 2 p.m. MT and pulled into a hangar.

Three police cars, two with lights flashing and one with the windows blacked out, were then seen leaving the airport.

Baumgartner was being held in B.C. after he was arrested at a U.S. border crossing near Abbotsford on the weekend with $330,000 in a backpack.

Police say Baumgartner was one of five security guards working for G4S Canada who were loading a bank machine at the university just after midnight Friday when shots rang out.

Baumgartner is expected to be formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Eddie Rejano, 39, Michelle Shegelski, 26, and Brian Ilesic, 35, where shot to death at the university's HUB mall and residence. Rejano's funeral is Friday.

Matthew Schuman, a fourth guard who was badly wounded, opened his eyes on the weekend and squeezed his wife's hand before he slipped back into unconsciousness. He remains in critical condition with what have been described as head injuries.

Police have said Baumgartner was on an overnight crew of five that was reloading an ATM at the university's HUB mall and residence shortly after midnight Friday.

On the day of the shooting, they first named him as a person of interest, but that was upgraded to a suspect just a few hours later when police issued warrants for his arrest.

Baumgartner tried to get into Washington state Saturday afternoon at a border crossing just north of Lynden, Wash., near Abbotsford, B.C.

Police say he was driving the same dark-blue pickup truck investigators had been looking for with an Alberta licence plate belonging to his mother on the back.

He had no passport, just a driver's licence that police had flagged in their computers.

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  • In this artist's sketch, Travis Baumgartner appears in an Edmonton courtroom, Thursday, June 21, 2012. Baumgartner, an armoured car guard accused of gunning down three of his crewmates during a robbery at the University of Alberta, has been forbidden to have any contact with a long list of people, including his parents.

  • Michelle Shegelski is shown in a photo from a Facebook page entitled "Dedicated To The G4S Armored Car Guards RIP." She was one of three guards killed in the shooting. Henrietta Shegelski of Lac du Bonnet, Man., confirmed the female victim was her daughter-in-law, Michelle Shegelski, who was in her mid-20s.

  • Eddie Rejano is shown in a photo taken from a Facebook page entitled "Dedicated To The G4S Armored Car Guards RIP." Rejano, one of three armoured car guards shot and killed during a robbery at the University of Alberta, aspired to be a police officer.

  • Travis Baumgartner

    Travis Baumgartner is taken out of a van by Canadian Border Services officers at the Aldergrove, British Columbia border crossing, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Baumgartner was stopped by customs at the United States border as he tried to enter the U.S. Baumgartner is wanted in a deadly armored car heist at a university in western Canada that left three armed guards dead, Friday. (AP Photo/Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press)

  • The pickup truck belonging to Travis Baumgartner is loaded onto a flabed truck by officers at the Aldergrove, B.C. border crossing, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Baumgartner was stopped by customs at the United States border as he tried to enter the U.S. Baumgartner allegedly shot and killed three G4S guards during a robery in Edmonton on Friday.

  • Edmonton Police Services Chief Rod Knecht (right) and G4S Secure Solutions president and CEO Jean Tallion arrive at a press conference regarding the arrest of Travis Brandon Baumgartner in Edmonton, Alta., on Monday, June 18, 2012. Police in Edmonton say the accused is co-operating with investigators.

  • Travis Brandon Baumgartner, 21, is shown in a police photo released on Friday June 15, 2012. Police say the man wanted in a deadly armoured car heist at the University of Alberta has been arrested. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

  • Forensics officers inspect the scene after three people where killed in a shoot out in an attempted armed robbery of an armoured car at the HUB Mall on campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Friday, June 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Jackson

  • Memorial flowers are left at the operations offices of G4S, a security company, in Edmonton, Alberta, on June 16, 2012. Three people where killed in a shoot out after an attempted armed robbery at a student residence called the HUB mall at the University of Alberta on June 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Jackson

  • Employees of G4S, a security company, leave the company's offices as police secure an armoured vehicle left near the G4S office believed to be used in an attempted armed robbery in the Hub Mall area on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Friday, June 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Jackson

  • Police investigate the scene after three people were killed in an apparent attempted armed robbery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada on Friday, June 15, 2012. The robbery happened in the Hub Mall area, which is a combination of student residences and 54 shops. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ian Jackson)

  • Police investigate the scene after three people were killed in an apparent attempted armed robbery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada on Friday, June 15, 2012. The robbery happened in the Hub Mall area, which is a combination of student residences and 54 shops. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ian Jackson)

  • Police investigate the scene after three people were killed in an apparent attempted armed robbery near the HUB Mall area on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Friday, June 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Jackson