Suspected bank robber shot by police was armed with pellet gun

A Burien man who was shot Tuesday after police say he robbed a West Seattle bank and led them on a lengthy chase was armed with a pellet gun that resembled a real handgun, police said.

During a news conference this afternoon, Seattle Police Sgt. Gary Nelson said that Douglas Cox had recently purchased the weapon — a near replica of a Colt .45 — with plans to rob the Wells Fargo Bank branch in West Seattle. Cox, who has been convicted of two previous bank robberies, was arrested with getaway driver Kevin Palmer.

Cox and Palmer are suspected of robbing the bank in the 2300 block of California Avenue Southwest shortly after 10 a.m. and then leading police on a lengthy chase to Capitol Hill and then to downtown Seattle. Cox was shot when the chase ended at First Avenue and Spring Street.

Police said that Cox, 50, and Palmer, 43, met while living in a halfway house in Seattle and plotted the West Seattle robbery over the past week. After his arrest Tuesday, Palmer told police that Cox told him that he refused to be caught by police, Nelson said.

Despite repeated warnings to surrender, police say, Cox displayed a handgun, prompting three Seattle police officers and one King County sheriff's deputy to pump numerous gunshots into a Jeep Cherokee the men used in the robbery.

Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz said today that officers fired 15 shots and Cox was struck up to five times in the head and neck.

Cox was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition this morning. Metz identified the officers who fired their weapons as: Seattle police Sgt. Joseph Bauer, 45; Seattle Police Officer Jeff Geohagan, 37; and Seattle Police Officer Chriseley Lang, 46. King County sheriff's Deputy William Kennemer, 40, also fired.

All four officers are on administrative leave while Seattle police investigate.

One bystander suffered minor injuries when he was sprayed with glass while seated in a nearby vehicle. The man declined medical aid, police said.

Palmer had been arrested before the shooting after he jumped out of the Cherokee at Eighth Avenue and Yesler Way, said FBI Special Agent Robbie Burroughs.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com