WESTMINSTER — A late-morning bank robbery turned frantic and violent Thursday, ending with both suspects dead and a police officer hospitalized after a gun battle near West 120th Avenue and Federal Boulevard.
A deputy chief also was injured.
It began shortly after 11:51 a.m., when police received a report of a robbery at the FirstBank branch at West 120th and Sheridan Boulevard.
A man and a woman entered the bank and showed they were carrying guns. They got an undisclosed amount of cash and fled. Someone inside the bank dialed 911.
A few minutes later, a patrol officer spotted the robbers in a silver Subaru in the Safeway parking lot at West 104th Avenue and Federal.
The robbers fired a single shot at police through the rear window of the Subaru, and a chase began. The suspects, whose identities had not been released Thursday night, continued to fire at the patrol officer as other police joined the chase north on crowded Federal.
“It was a very dangerous situation for a lot of people,” Westminster police spokesman Trevor Materasso said.
At West 120th and Federal, the patrol officer and a second officer used their cars to force the suspects’ vehicle to spin out.
Police fired on the vehicle and the suspects fired back, using small-caliber handguns, Materasso said.
Both suspects were shot in their car, which had dozens of bullet holes, including several through the windshield. The male suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The wounded female suspect was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital, where she died, Materasso said. Both suspects were young adults.
Officer Sean Chandler, who joined the department in 1998, was shot in the hip and hospitalized at St. Anthony in stable condition, Materasso said.
A bullet grazed the hip of Deputy Police Chief Tim Carlson, who joined the department in 1987. He was treated at the scene and not hospitalized, Materasso said.
Late Thursday afternoon, the suspects’ bullet-riddled vehicle sat crumpled and facing west on 120th just east of the intersection. A black police cruiser sat a few feet away, also facing west, with its hood buckled.
In nearby businesses, patrons were trying to comprehend what they had seen during the lunch hour.
“A mother jumped over her baby to protect her,” said Dane Wangaard, a cook at nearby Baker St. Pub & Grill, where patrons scrambled for cover. “It’s amazing this happens, especially in a this area.”
Crime-scene investigators pored over the intersection of West 120th and Federal into the night, trying to determine the number of shots fired. Federal was closed until 7 p.m.
“It’s a tough incident to put together,” Materasso said. “A lot happened in different parts of the city, with multiple locations, a bank robbery, a pursuit, a PIT maneuver. . . . The Westminster Police Department is working with several agencies to investigate multiple crime scenes.”
The bank is on the Broomfield border, Federal at West 103rd Avenue is in Federal Heights, and the FBI is involved in any bank-robbery case.
Authorities Thursday night were awaiting confirmation of the suspects’ identities from the Adams County coroner, Materasso said.
Relief swept over the Westminster Police Department when it was learned Chandler would survive. “It’s a family in the Police Department, and to hear that one of your own is hit, it’s very nerve-racking,” Materasso said.
Carlson oversees the department’s patrol and traffic sections, the SWAT team, the K9 unit, school resource officers, the bicycle patrol unit and the special-operations division.
Carlson is a former spokesman of the department and on Nov. 15, 1996, gave his opinion about bank robbers after a FirstBank at 8800 Wads worth Parkway was struck.
“Bank robbers are kind of prolific,” Carlson said. “They tend to keep doing it once they start doing it.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
