ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. --A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper and a bank robbery suspect shot each other during an exchange of gunfire Friday morning near New Melle.
The bullet hit the 26-year-old trooper's chest but didn't penetrate his bulletproof vest.
"He should be fine, maybe a little bruising," said Sgt. Al Nothum of the Highway Patrol.
The robbery suspect, 64, was hit at least once in the legs, Nothum said. Authorities said they didn't think the suspect's injuries were life-threatening.
Both the trooper and the suspect were taken to a hospital. Police did not release the names of the suspect or trooper. The trooper has been with the patrol about three years.
The shootout happened after the trooper spotted a car matching the description of the getaway car -- a white Nissan sedan -- and stopped it about one mile south of the intersection of Highways D and F.
At 9:20 a.m. Friday the man walked into the lobby of First Bank in Dutzow, in southeastern Warren County, and pulled out a handgun, police said.
"You know what this is," he shouted, according to police.
"He had them put their hands up, and told the tellers to give him the top bills out of the trays," said Warren County Sheriff Kevin T. Harrison.
He told the tellers to make sure there were no hidden dye packs in the bills they handed him.
He then ordered the tellers to go to the bank vault and bring him only $100 and $50 bills. He put the money into a duffle bag and ran out of the bank.
Before he left, he warned them not to do anything for one minute.
"He said if anybody did anything, he would kill everyone in the bank," Harrison said.
One of the bank customers was a man whose wife was sitting outside in the couple's vehicle. She saw the robbery and called 911.
"She got out of the car and was looking in the bank window," Harrison said. "She calls 911 and gives them a play-by-play, going on as she watches through the window."
She gave a good description of his clothing and the car he fled in. Another motorist saw the car, too, and gave police a partial number from the license plate.
This was the second time since the early 1990s that the bank has been robbed. A firm that handles public relations for First Bank said the bank would not comment on any case under investigation by police.
Charges are pending against the suspect, but Nothum said his intent toward the trooper was clear.
"He was going to get out and kill him," Nothum said. "It just didn't work his way today, thank goodness."
Copyright 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
