Kansas bank robber claimed to have a bomb before making off with less than $5K: police
A Wellington, Kansas, bank robbery suspect who was killed Friday in a shootout with officers in Oklahoma used a handwritten note saying he had a bomb and demanding money at a bank before making off with less than $5,000, chief Tracy Heath said.
The name of the person killed has not been released, Heath said around 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Impact Bank, which is about a block from the police station in the town of about 8,000 people, was robbed at around 12:30 p.m. Friday. The suspect parked by the front door of the bank and walked in, wearing a blue surgical mask, according to Heath.
Heath believes the bank was only occupied by other employees when the suspect handed a clerk the handwritten note demanding money. The clerk gave him the money at his station, which was less than $5,000 in cash, before the suspect left with the money and the note in less than five minutes, he said.
Surveillance video showed the suspect take off in a grayish car, believed to be a Chrysler 300. Police suspected the man was headed south on I-35.
About 30 minutes after the robbery, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spotted the suspect vehicle and began a high-speed chase not far from the state line on I-35, according to Heath.
Heath said officers and the suspect got into a shootout before the suspect ran from the car and into a field, where he was fatally shot by officers.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper told an Oklahoma TV station that the suspect, after he ran from the car, pointed a gun at the officers who then returned fire, killing the suspect. No officers were injured.
Because of the bomb threat, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad was brought in to search the vehicle, News 9 in Oklahoma City reported.
Heath said the chase and shooting happened just north of Perry, Oklahoma. He said Oklahoma officers were going to search the car Saturday.
Wellington is about 30 miles south of Wichita and a little less than that from the Oklahoma state line.
