On July 1 at approximately 5:31 p.m. officers spotted a wanted bank robbery suspect driving a stolen Dodge Ram pickup truck near 3rd Avenue Northwest and Holman Road Northwest. The 36-year-old male suspect was believed to have robbed a bank in Shoreline within the last 90 minutes and was also believed to be responsible for at least two other area robberies (an attempted bank robbery in the 400 block of North 85th Street and an espresso stand robbery in the 14300 block of Greenwood Avenue North).

A police bulletin was recently issued alerting officers that the suspect was wanted for robbery. The bulletin instructed officers to arrest the suspect on a current felony warrant in addition to probable cause for the earlier robberies. The suspect was described as armed and dangerous.

Puget Sound Violent Crimes Task Force Detectives (PSVCTF) were patrolling the area due to the bank robbery that had occurred a short time earlier in Shoreline. Patrol officers attempted to stop the suspect, at which time he got caught in traffic near Greenwood Avenue North and Holman Road North.

Patrol officers and PSVCTF detectives surrounded the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to take him into custody. The suspect failed to comply with officers’ commands to show his hands. The suspect then rammed a marked police car on the driver’s side, inflicting minor injuries to the veteran male officer. The suspect refused officers’ commands to surrender.

A Seattle Police Detective fired at the suspect several times, striking him at least once in the arm.

The suspect sped away and drove across Greenwood Avenue North, where he collided into two civilian vehicles, a silver Honda sedan and a red Honda SUV. The driver of the silver Honda sedan was not injured.

The red Honda SUV was occupied by an adult male driver and two children, ages 5 and 11. All three of those occupants were transported to an area hospital with minor injuries that were sustained in the collision with the suspect’s truck.

The suspect was taken into custody following the collision with the red Honda SUV. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

The detective who fired his service weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.

Seattle Police homicide, robbery and CSI detectives, as well as FBI agents, responded to the scene.

Seattle Police homicide detectives will conduct the officer-involved shooting aspect of the incident, which is standard practice. A firearms review board will be convened in the coming weeks to determine whether or not the shooting was within department policy.

The robbery aspect of the incident remains an active and on-going Puget Sound Violent Crimes Task Force investigation conducted by the Seattle Police Department in conjunction with the FBI.

While this information is preliminary and subject to change, it is the best available at the present time.