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Burlington: Bank robbery suspect dead, sheriff’s office says

February 6th, 2009, incident report by jbtaylor

  • October 21, 2008
  • 1
  • 0
  • Burlington
  • Washington
  • 98233

By Jaime Adame
Wenatchee World staff writer
Posted October 31, 2008, http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20081031/NEWS04/710319996

BURLINGTON — The man who robbed a Leavenworth bank at gunpoint earlier this month died last week in Skagit County when he shot himself during a police pursuit after another bank robbery, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

On Wednesday, employees of Cashmere Valley Bank on Wednesday were shown photos of 51-year-old William A. Chapman of Rockport, according to the news release.

They identified Chapman as the man who robbed the bank Oct. 8, the news release stated. No one was hurt in that robbery.

According to news re-ports, Chapman was suspected of robbing a Sedro-Woolley bank Oct. 21, then died from two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. Before his death, Chapman exchanged gunfire with a Mount Vernon police officer who was pursuing him in Burlington.

A witness told investigators Chapman held a gun to his own head. A wounded Chapman was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died that night.

An autopsy confirmed the two gunshot wounds to the head were self-inflicted.

According to the sheriff’s office, Chapman was released from prison in 2004 after serving a sentence on a 1996 first-degree robbery conviction.