Dead Bank Robbery Suspects Identified But Authorities Withhold Names While Hunt Continues For Third

Two bank robbery suspects killed in a police shootout have been identified, but their names aren’t being made public while a hunt continues for a third suspect who escaped, police said Sunday.

Police still need to notify the dead men’s relatives and are working to identify the third suspect, Deputy Police Chief Eric Mellgren said in a statement.

“We will try to release the suspects’ names as soon as we are able to without compromising the criminal case,” he said.

Police also want to determine whether any others were involved in the crimes, Mellgren said.

The two dead men were identified through fingerprint records after the Clark County Medical Examiner’s office performed autopsies Saturday.

Police detectives and volunteers from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office continued to search Sunday for the missing suspect in a wooded canyon along Blandford Drive, where the shootout took place Friday morning.

The shootout occurred after two robberies, one at Wells Fargo in Vancouver Mall and the other at a Seafirst Bank branch, and a pipe-bomb explosion near a Kmart store. Police believe the bombing may have been a diversion.

Three men fled in a car after the Seafirst robbery. Police gave chase, and the suspects’ car ran off the road and crashed into a tree.

The driver fled into the woods while his two accomplices exchanged gunfire with police.

The two were shot dead. No officers were hurt.

It’s unclear whether the Seafirst robbery and the Wells Fargo holdup are linked.

The FBI is working with the Washington State Patrol, the sheriff’s office, Vancouver police and other agencies in the search for the missing suspect.