Wisconsin state trooper, bank robbery suspect both killed in shootout

A Wisconsin State Patrol trooper just three months out of the academy died in a shootout with a bank robbery suspect Tuesday evening.

March 25, 2015

A Wisconsin State Patrol trooper just three months out of the academy died in a shootout with a bank robbery suspect also believed to have killed another motorist.

The robbery suspect also died in the shooting Tuesday evening in Fond du Lac, in eastern Wisconsin.

Authorities did not immediately identify the suspect or the motorist who was killed, but a patrol bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies identified the trooper as 21-year-old Trevor Casper. The bulletin said Casper, of Kiel, joined the patrol in July from a class of recruits who completed training in December.

The man Casper confronted was suspected of robbing the State Bank of Florence in Wausaukee, about 130 miles to the north, around 2 p.m., Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Sauve said in a statement.

The man fired his handgun inside the bank and robbed it of an unspecified amount of cash, then fled in a bank employee's vehicle, Sauve said.

Less than an hour later, a man believed to be in his 60s was found fatally shot on a road east of Wausaukee, alongside a still-running pickup truck, according to the sheriff. Deputies searched the area and found the bank employee's stolen vehicle. Investigators believe the suspect shot the man then fled in yet another vehicle.

The trooper spotted the suspect driving in Fond du Lac about 5:30 p.m. and followed him, Fond du Lac Police Chief William Lamb said. The shootout happened shortly thereafter.

Lamb said no other suspects were being sought.

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The Wisconsin Department of Justice is working with law enforcement from Marinette County, the city of Fond du Lac, the FBI and the Wisconsin State Patrol, on the investigation.