Bank robbery attempt ends in gunfire at Spokane Valley STCU branch, suspect reportedly wounded

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies were searching Thursday evening for a bank robber who witnesses say was shot by a customer during an attempted heist at STCU’s South Valley branch.

Witnesses reported an armed robbery at 13211 E. 32nd Ave. around 1:40 p.m., said Deputy Mark Gregory, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Witnesses said a customer shot the robber in the upper chest or shoulder, Gregory said. He stressed, however, that the investigation was still underway.

“There’s some blood at the scene,” Gregory said. “There’s reason to believe he’s injured.”

Witnesses described the robber as a white man, between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a light-colored fishing hat and a gray shirt with red lettering.

The man fled the branch on foot to the north or northeast. Deputies searched the area with dogs and a helicopter, and alerts were sent to nearby residents, Gregory said.

STCU released surveillance photos of the suspect, and reported on Twitter the branch will be closed Thursday and Friday, opening up again after the Fourth of July holiday.

The incident is the second in the region in recent months in which a bank customer tried to stop a robbery in progress. In April, a customer was shot during a robbery at the Wells Fargo bank on North Division when he charged the robber and slammed him into a wall. The customer was shot in the left arm and right leg.

The robber in that case hasn’t been caught, the FBI said.