An Alberta sheriff has been shot outside a courthouse in a community northwest of Edmonton.

Whitecourt Mayor Trevor Thain has no immediate information on the condition of the sheriff.

Thain says the shooting took place shortly before noon and two suspects escaped using the sheriff's van.

The RCMP later confirmed that the two suspects were arrested at the Whitecourt airport.

He says the suspects were among those arrested earlier in a drug bust in the community, about 180 kilometres from the provincial capital.