Bank robbery suspect released from Texas prison by mistake

A fatal bank robbery in eastern Oklahoma has left two people dead, including bank president and CEO Randy Peterson.

Cedric Norris is accused of robbing the Bank of Eufaula on Wednesday, killing the bank’s president and wounding two others.

On Tuesday, a gunman walked into a convenience store in the 1900 block of East Grauwyler Road in Irving, police said.

The bank robber then tried to take a bank employee hostage, FBI Special Agent Terry Weber said during a news conference Thursday.

The suspects fled on Highway 69 but police caught up to them, so one of them got out of the vehicle and shot at an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, reported Fox.

“Shots were fired by the suspect and law enforcement”, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Paul Timmons said, per The Oklahoman. Vincent said it will require a lengthy investigation to determine whether Huff was shot by law officers or by the robber.

“I was in a deep sleep and I heard gunshots”, said Linda Paschen, who lives close to where the shootout happened.

A trooper “initiated a tactical procedure to stop the vehicle”, OHP spokesman Lt. John Vincent said.

Norris attempted to take a number of hostages, including two employees and a customer, according to The Oklahoman.

Weber says both women who were shot are expected to survive.

Nevertheless, it isn’t quite clear on who shot Norris or the hostage during the fatal shoot-out. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is handling that aspect of the investigation, Vincent said.

News on 6 Norris was killed in a shootout after fleeing the scene in a white SUV.

Officials say the suspect continued shooting at officers, even after being knocked to the ground by bullets. The FBI said Texas was his last known state of residence.