A man sought in a Vancouver bank robbery on Monday later exchanged gunfire with a sheriff’s deputy west of Battle Ground and was injured, according to police.
The robbery was reported downtown at the US Bank branch at 1607 Main St. shortly before 2 p.m. Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said officers responded after an employee there sounded an alarm. It was unclear whether the man displayed a weapon, Kapp said.
The man left with an undisclosed amount of cash, but a bank teller included a tracking device with the money, Kapp said. Vancouver police officers, joined later by Washington State Patrol troopers and Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies, headed north in pursuit of his vehicle and the device’s signal, she said.
The search ended around 2:15 p.m. at the intersection of Northeast 10th Avenue and 219th Street/state Highway 502 in Duluth, when pursuing officers forced the driver to stop and boxed his vehicle in, Kapp said.
She said the deputy who stopped the suspect’s vehicle and the suspect fired their weapons, and the suspect was shot. She added it was unclear whether the man’s injuries were self-inflicted.
The Clark County sheriff’s Regional Major Crimes Team is investigating the incident.
Police did not share information about the man’s identity or the extent of his injuries, or the name of the deputy. Kapp said the suspect was taken to a hospital.
No officers, bystanders or bank employees were hurt.
Amy Zumstein, an employee at the nearby Don & Jo’s Drive-In, said she had arrived early for her afternoon shift and saw multiple police cars descend on the intersection.
Zumstein said she couldn’t see much but said she heard what she thought was a gunshot.
The Washington State Department of Transportation said traffic at the intersection was blocked during the investigation.
Multiple police vehicles were still at the scene Monday evening.
Tracy Ceravolo was driving north on 10th Avenue, coming from a trip to the dentist, when she found herself driving behind the suspect’s vehicle.
He was driving normally, she said, but appeared to be lost. When they got to the intersection for Northeast 179th Street, he had stopped and switched on his right-turn signal, she said. The light was green, she said, so she passed him.
With the subject behind her, a slew of law enforcement vehicles pulled up, behind him, and everyone pulled over.
“I guess he knew why they were there,” she said. She rolled down her window to see what was going on when the subject and the police vehicles blew by.
“It was an exciting drive home from the dentist’s office,” she said.
