RCMP in central Alberta say a suspect has been shot and killed after he allegedly crashed into vehicles, including a police car, with a stolen front-end loader.

An RCMP news release says police were seeking the 37-year-old man in connection with a sexual assault of a 47-year-old woman and an attempted murder of a 20-year-old man in the Red Deer area early Christmas morning.

They say that many of the vehicles that were hit were in an industrial park — they were unoccupied and no one was hurt in the crashes.

Police say the suspect was eventually confronted in a field on Friday afternoon, where the situation ended "with the discharge of an RCMP pistol."

They say the victims of the sex assault and attempted murder have received medical attention, and that they knew the suspect.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which investigates police, has tweeted it will investigate the officer-involved shooting but says it won't make any statements until Saturday.