Police Shoot and Kill Armed-Robbery Suspect in Dramatic Gun Battle in Southwest Washington

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Police in Vancouver shot and killed an armed-robbery suspect Tuesday evening, the Vancouver police department said.

A police detective spotted a car at about 5:30 p.m. headed west on East Mill Plain Boulevard. The detective recognized the driver “as a suspect who was wanted for multiple, recent armed robberies,” and he followed the car to a nearby Safeway grocery store at Mill Plain and Andresen Road, officials said.

The detective and other officers waited outside and witnessed the suspect leave the store. “When (the suspect) saw police, he dropped a bag of items, displayed a firearm, ran westbound through the parking lot and during the attempt to apprehend him the suspect fired at officers, and they returned fire,” Vancouver police said in a statement.

Video of officers running and shooting in the shopping-center parking lot was captured by bystanders and posted online. Police said three Vancouver police officers and one Clark County sheriff’s deputy fired their weapons.



The suspect died at the scene. No other injuries have been reported.

Police have not yet publicly identified the suspect. Officials said the names of the officers involved in the shooting would be released “at a later time.”

The officers who discharged their weapons have been placed on leave pending an investigation, which is the usual procedure. The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team, led by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating the shooting.