Jacksonville, FL — JSO now confirms that the suspect in a Westside armed bank robbery is the man who was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot after a SWAT standoff.
We’ve also learned the suspect was hit by a SWAT detective’s bullet, although the injury is not believed to have been incapacitating.
This complex investigation started Friday morning, when JSO was called to a Wells Fargo on San Juan because of an armed bank robbery. We were told a masked suspect showed a gun and made off with money. JSO has now released surveillance from the scene, which shows the mask was a distinctive Batman-style.
Investigative leads took JSO to a home on Patrice Court. They contacted a woman in the home- now identified as the suspect’s girlfriend- and she and her four children safely evacuated, while confirming to police that an armed man was in the home. That man has now been identified as 29-year-old Terrence King. We’re told King would occasionally stay in the home, and two of the children are believed to be his.
JSO was able to initially contact King, but describe his demeanor as uncooperative. He opened a door and partially stepped out, firing one shot. JSO says King went back in to the home, and when he opened the door again a short time later, a 22-year veteran detective assigned to the SWAT unit fired six shots. JSO Director of Investigations and Homeland Security Ron Lendvay now confirms one of the shots from the detective did hit King in the hip, but the Medical Examiner says the injury would not have been incapacitating.
King went back in to the home and refused further contact with negotiators. Lendvay says King did reach out to some family members expressing remorse about a "bad decision" earlier in the day, and telling at least one that he intended to kill himself. When JSO got that information, they decided to breach the home. King was found dead on the floor near the door, with a gunshot to the head. JSO believes the shot was self-inflicted, although final determination by the Medical Examiner's Office is still pending.
Lendvay says they have found the mask and bank money with King. King was also wearing clothes that appear to match those worn during the robbery, and the firearm found with his body matched that description as well- and had been recently fired. Because of that, Lendvay says they're comfortable naming King as the suspect in the bank robbery.
JSO is still investigating whether King could be responsible for another robbery at the same bank about a month ago.
Detective R.L. Johnson- who fired the shots at King- is on administrative leave, per protocol.
