Vallejo Police Officer Shot, Killed While Responding to Bank Robbery

Bay City News Service

A police officer who was shot while responding to a bank robbery in Vallejo died this afternoon, according to authorities. The officer has been identified by the Vallejo Times Herald as Jim Capoot, a 28-year veteran of the Vallejo Police Department.

Capoot responded to reports of a bank robbery at the Bank of America on Springs Road at around 1:30 p.m., Vallejo police said. The officer spotted the suspect vehicle near the bank and a car chase followed, ending in the 100 block of Janice Street, according to police.

The suspect got out of his vehicle and ran away and the officer chased him into a residential neighborhood where the suspect shot the officer, police said. The officer was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Betty Clarke, who lives in the 100 block of Janice Street, said she was at home when she heard sirens, then popping sounds, and went outside to see what was going on.

She said it appeared a beige SUV being chased by police crashed near Janice Street and Mark Avenue. A neighbor who was driving home with her child was broadsided by one of the vehicles as she pulled into her driveway, she said. Clarke said a man inside the SUV ran into a backyard, and that police searched nearby yards -- including hers, ripping off the doors to her shed.

Further information regarding the shooting was not immediately available.