Saanich police are asking the public to avoid the area around the TD Bank in the Tillicum Shopping Centre after it was robbed Wednesday afternoon.

Police rushed to the branch at 309 Burnside Road West at about 3:15 p.m.

Investigators are looking for a thin white man, about 50 years old, and 5’ 5” tall.

Saanich police say the suspect should have red stains on his hands, torso and face, as well as on his clothing, after the bank’s dye packs deployed.

A red-stained handgun or replica handgun was clearly visible near the steps leading into the bank immediately following the incident.

"When he fled, part of the package that he was given by the bank included a dye pack, which then deployed when he was outside the bank," said Saanich police spokesperson Sgt. Julie Fast.

"Our suspect is out there, we have not located him. But he should be fairly distinguishable because the red dye pack did deploy on him."

Police say the man was wearing a grey hoodie, blue jeans,a baseball hat and has a scar on the right side of his face. Anyone who sees the potential suspect is asked to call 911 immediately.

One witness said he saw police dogs searching the area nearby.

"When I came out they had the dogs. It looked like they had just taken them out of the truck and they were sniffing around the hedges," said Aaron Walker, who had been visiting a nearby laundromat at the time.

"The city's getting pretty bad, I think everybody knows that," Walker added. "There's pretty much [an] epidemic with a couple different hard drugs in this town and stuff's going to happen."

A police forensic identification team and other investigators remained at the scene Wednesday evening.

Police say no one was harmed in the robbery.

At this point police are not connecting the holdup to recent armed robberies at nearby 7-Eleven stores on Burnside Road West and Carey Road.