Bellingham police officers cornered a fleeing suspect March 2 near the northbound on-ramp to Interstate 5 at Old Fairhaven Parkway when the suspect shot himself, Bellingham police Lt. Claudia Murphy said Saturday, March 4 in an email.
The man, a 40-year-old from Bellingham, was transported to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and remains hospitalized in critical condition, Murphy said. The man’s name was not released.
Around 6:30 p.m. on March 2, Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies came across a vehicle they were searching for at Lake Whatcom Park, on the lake’s eastern shore. The man, who police say was wanted for felonies including robbery and firearm theft, immediately fled in his vehicle around the lake and into Bellingham via Lakeway Drive. Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop the driver, and Bellingham police assisted deputies after he entered the city limits, Murphy said.
The driver crashed into a retaining wall on a dead-end street and ran toward the I-5 on-ramp at Exit 250, according to police.
A police canine confronted the man through a fence. Officers stationed at the I-5 on-ramp saw the man and ordered him to surrender. After the man “did not comply and began to move,” an officer used a less lethal launcher, “to deploy a drag-stabilized flexible baton at the driver’s thigh/glute area,” Murphy said.
Immediately after launching the baton, officers heard a gunshot and the man fell to the ground, according to Murphy’s report.
“Officers moved in on the driver, noted he was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and immediately began lifesaving measures,” Murphy said. “Bellingham fire was called to the scene, and medics transported the driver to the hospital for further emergent medical treatment.”
This story was updated at 5:28 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 with new information from the Bellingham Police Department.
