This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A man suspected of robbing a St. George bank at gunpoint and kidnapping two employees as he made his getaway was shot and killed by police on Thursday.

The suspect has not yet been identified, Sgt. David Crouse of the Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a written news release.

Police say the incident began when a man — who was wearing a wig and fake beard and was armed, possibly with a handgun and shotgun — robbed the Zions Bank at 717 S. River Road at about 1:40 p.m. He then took two female employees as hostages and forced them into one of their vehicles, a silver Volkswagen Touareg, according to the release.

St. George police spotted the car going east on Foremaster Drive and as officers began pursuing the vehicle on Riverside Drive, the suspect fired shots that struck their patrol cars. No officers were hurt, police say.

Also joining the chase were officers from the Washington City Police Department, Washington County's Sheriff's Office, Utah Highway Patrol and other state and federal agencies.

The Volkswagen stopped near a residential area bordering the Virgin River and the suspect fled into the thick brush, the release said. The women remained in the car and were unharmed.

Tactical response teams, backed by Utah Highway Patrol helicopters, searched the area and found the man, who was shot in a confrontation and pronounced dead at the scene, Crouse said.

During the search and chase, the emergency dispatch center used a reverse 911 system to alert nearby residents about the threat and advise them to stay inside and lock their doors.

The Washington County School District locked down more than a dozen schools because of the search for the man; it reported at 4:21 p.m. that the suspect had been apprehended and lockdowns were lifted.

The Washington County Attorney's Office is heading an investigation by the county's critical incident team — which is composed of investigators from several area agencies — of the officer-involved shooting. St. George police and the FBI are investigating the bank robbery.

Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC —

People killed by Utah law enforcement officers in 2014

10. 9/11/14 • Unk. name, age. Police shot suspect to death during alleged bank robbery in St. George.

9. 9/10/14 • Darrien Nathaniel Hunt, 22. Two Saratoga Springs police officers fired on Hunt outside a convenience store while he allegedly was armed with a samurai sword.

8. 9/9/14 • Christopher James Roskelley, 38. Ogden police shot Roskelley, who was wanted in connection with a shooting one week earlier that left a victim critically injured at an Ogden Rite Aid.

7. 8/11/14 • Diilon Taylor, 20. Salt Lake City police shot Taylor outside a South Salt Lake 7-Eleven while responding to reports of a man with a gun. Police have not said whether Taylor was armed or why officers shot him.

6. 7/25/14 • Nicholas Lister, 31. Unified Police officers responded to reports of a "domestic situation" at Lister's house. Lister, inside, spoke with officers on phone. When officers tried to leave with his wife and let him "de-escalate," he came outside with a gun and fired at the officers.

5. 6/4/14 • Kristopher Chase Simmons, 35. Simmons, who was wanted on drug warrants, barricaded himself inside a car in a West Haven auto body shop. Weber County sheriff's deputies went into the shop and shot Simmons when he pointed a gun at them.

4. 4/21/14 • Siale Angilau, 25. U.S. Marshals shot Angilau when he rushed a witness at the Salt Lake City federal courthouse during his trial on charges of racketeering in connection to the Tongan Crip Gang.

3. 4/13/14 • Vincent John Farrand, 38. Centerville police were called to Farrand's house on reports he was suicidal and frightening his wife. He came outside with a gun, which officers asked him to put down. Instead he pointed it at officers, one of whom fired four shots at Farrand.

2. 3/28/14 • Christopher Leo Knight, 24. Knight, who was wanted in California on suspicion of drug possession, was stopped by Salt Lake City police officers. As he got out of the car, he fired at the two officers, striking one in the arm and one in the thigh. They returned fire, killing him.

1. 1/30/14 • Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui, 27. Juab County sheriff's deputies fired on Garcia-Jauregui after he shot two Utah County sheriff's deputies in separate locations; Sgt. Cory Wride was killed in Eagle Mountain when he stopped to check on Garcia-Jauregui's car. Deputy Greg Sherwood was shot in the head in Santaquin and survived.

Erin Alberty