Suspect in attempted bank robbery in Lakewood expected to survive gunshot wound, police say; stolen car found

LAKEWOOD -- Detectives are confident that a 27-year-old man who showed up at a Tacoma hospital with a gunshot wound to the head was the one who tried to rob a Bank of America and was shot by an armored car guard Monday, police said Tuesday.

"The suspect is still under police guard at the hospital and is expected to survive," Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said.

In addition, police late Monday night found the car used in the bank robbery abandoned in a church parking lot at 111 112tth Street East in Parkland and discovered it had been reported stolen, Lawler said.

"Detectives believe they have identified the female accomplice and are searching for her at this time," Lawler said.

The  man suspected of having tried to rob the bank in Lakewood showed up at St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma late Monday with a gunshot wound to his head and was taken into surgery.

According to the Lakewood Police Department, an armed security guard shot and wounded the would-be bank robber in the vestibule of the Bank of America near in the 9000 block of Bridgeport Way in Lakewood.

Lakewood police said the guard fired four or five shots, and that the female driver of a getaway car helped the would-be robber into the vehicle and drove off.

The suspect was driven to St. Joseph Hospital by a female companion, who then fled in the car, sources said.

The suspected accomplice was described as a black female in her 20s with a pony-tail and dark-rimmed glasses.