A police chase that closed the Peace Arch border crossing south of Vancouver, ended in the arrest of two men wanted in California on murder charges following a shootout.

The incident on Tuesday night temporarily closed the Canada-U.S. border crossing, and caused dozens of Canadian guards to walk off the job, fearing for their safety.

The chase started when two men tried to get into Canada.

The Peace Arch border crossing, Tuesday.

Officials say Ishtiaq Hussain, 38, and Jose Antonio Barajas, 22, are now in custody. One of the suspects was wounded in a shootout with police.

U.S. sheriffs say the pair managed to make it to the check point about a metre before Canadian soil.

"They [drove] through the border and they almost struck two uniformed officers," said Bill Elf of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Department.

Bill Elf of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Department.

The suspects continued northbound and struck the Peace Arch itself at one point.

Witness Bill Whittle didn't see the ensuing gunfight but he heard it.

"I heard about seven or eight gunshots on the other side of the Peace Arch," he said. "One of [the suspects] was shot. [The police] got him out of the car."

Officials credit a brave deputy sheriff for stopping the pair, who were considered armed and dangerous.

CBC News has learned that when unarmed Canadian border guards found out the murder suspects were coming their way, they left their posts at two crossings along the B.C. border: the Peace Arch crossing at Douglas, which was closed for a while, and the Pacific Highway Truck Crossing, to which traffic from Douglas was diverted.

Supervisors were left at each crossing to protect the Canadian side.

A spokeswoman with Canada Border Services says the guards have the legal right to refuse to work if they believe they are in imminent danger.