PRESS RELEASE FROM RUSK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT:

Rusk County Sheriff David Kaminski has released the names of the law enforcement officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of a bank robbery suspect in Rusk County last Friday afternoon.

According to Sheriff Kaminski, Rusk County Deputy Jeff Wallace, Rusk County Deputy Riley Kummet and Wisconsin DNR Conservation Warden Jeremy Peery were involved in an exchange of gunfire after squads forced the suspect vehicle off the roadway just a mile west of Bruce on Hwy 8.

Sheriff Kaminski advised that the two deputies and the conservation warden will remain on paid administrative leave, per their departments’ policies, until the investigation into the shooting is complete.

Sheriff Kaminski requested an independent agency conduct an impartial review of the officer involved shooting incident as that is the standard practice. Sheriff’s officials requested the assistance of the Barron County Sheriffs Office and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation to investigate the shooting while the Wisconsin State Patrol handled the documentation of the crash scene.

Sheriff Kaminski said “that although it might take several weeks for the investigating agencies to complete their final reports, the preliminary information I have reviewed makes it clear that my deputies and Warden Peery acted in an exemplary and courageous , manner by placing themselves in harms way to protect the public and apprehend a felony suspect.”

“The initial information,” said Kaminski “shows that the suspect fired on officers several times and the officers had no choice but to take the action they did.” Kaminski said that it is very unfortunate anytime a life was taken, but stressed that this suspect had ample opportunity to stop and give himself up. Instead, the man chose to lead officers on a high speed pursuit at speeds reported in excess of 100 MPH. As the suspect vehicle neared the village of Bruce, officers forced (the) vehicle to the side of the road in the interest of overall public safety.

Deputy Wallace is a 13 year law enforcement veteran, and has been with the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office for 8 years. Deputy Kummet has worked in law enforcement for 5 years, and for the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office for 3 years. Warden Peery has worked in law enforcement for 13 years, the last 11 as a DNR Conservation Warden.

The Rusk County investigation also coincides with the investigation to Friday’s robbery of the Dairyland State Bank in Exeland that is being conducted by the Sawyer County Sheriffs Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Deputies say they've arrested the man wanted in connection to a bank robbery in Exeland.

The Sawyer County Sheriff's Department says 20-year-old Robert McCallie of Kennan was taken into custody at a home in Rhinelander Sunday afternoon. Law enforcement had been searching for McCallie since Friday.

Officers also found a truck that was reported stolen from Rusk County. McCallie is one of three suspects in Friday's robbery at Dairyland State Bank.

We also now know the name of the man who was shot by deputies after the robbery. The Rusk County Sheriff's Department says 50-year-old Rudolph P. Frenzer of Ingram was killed. Deputies say Frenzer led officers on a chase and shot at them before his vehicle crashed with two Rusk County patrol cars. Deputies say more shots were fired after the chase and Frenzer was killed.

Another suspect in the robbery, 19-year-old Steven Ray Willard Jr. is already in custody.
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An armed bank robbery turns deadly Friday afternoon. It happened Dairyland State Bank in Exeland in Sawyer County around 2:30 p.m.

Officers arrested one man near Deer Lake in Sawyer County. A massive search was underway for another suspect that ran into the woods. He’s described as a white man around 6’5’’ and 200 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

The Rusk County sheriff says an officer shot and killed a third man after he stayed in the car and took of south into Rusk County. The chase ended near Bruce where the man was shot.

WEAU 13 News talked to the president of Dairyland State Bank. But, all Robert Hegeholz would say is that no one was hurt during the actual bank robbery in Exeland.

Dairyland State Bank is the sixth bank robbed in our area this month. But, it's what happened after the robbery that sets it apart; it's the only one where someone was killed. No one had even been hurt up to this point.

"It's always a tragedy when an officer has to fire a weapon toward or at anybody," says Rusk County Sheriff David Kaminski.

Kaminski says a deputy was sent to northern Rusk County after the bank robbery in Exeland. Officers from the Rusk County Sheriff's Department and the DNR eventually caught up with that car.

“During the chase alleged shots were fired by the suspect toward the officers' vehicle. The officers ended up stopping the vehicle and at that point shots were fired by the officers; allegedly also by the suspect,” Kaminski says.

Sheriff Kaminski would not say who fired the deadly shot or what guns the officers or the suspect were using.

"Anytime an officer has to pursuit anybody for any reason and they run, it's a danger not only to the suspect and the officers, but the public as well. It is always a dangerous situation. It's something we don't want to have to do, but when we have to do that we will,” Kaminski.

The State Patrol tells WEAU 13 News the suspects used guns during the robbery.

Jerry Southworth, a retired FBI agent, says he believes a fatal shooting like Friday's could have a sobering effect on anyone thinking about robbing bank.

The suspect who was arrested is in the Sawyer County jail. Investigators haven't released the name of the suspect who was killed. We know all of the suspects are men.

If you see any sign of the third suspect, call the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department at (715) 634-4858. Officers do not know if he is still armed.

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SAWYER COUNTY PRESS RELEASE:

At 2:29 PM on 30 October 2009, the Sawyer County Dispatch Center received a report of a holdup alarm at the Dairyland State Bank in Exeland.

Deputies from the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department and Birchwood Police Department were dispatched to the scene. Mutual aid was requested from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department, Washburn County Sheriff’s Department, Barron County Sheriff’s Department and K-9 Units from the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department and Rice Lake Police Department.

An Officer from the Birchwood Police Department spotted the suspect vehicle and began pursuing it. Two individuals fled from the vehicle in the Deer Lake area of Southern Sawyer County.

The Birchwood Police Officer chased the individuals on foot and took one of them into custody. The other individual on foot fled into the woods.

An extensive search of the area is currently being conducted by the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department and other supporting Departments with the addition of the Wisconsin DNR and the Wisconsin State Patrol.

After the two individuals fled from the suspect vehicle, the vehicle continued traveling South into Rusk County where the vehicle was eventually immobilized by Rusk County Deputies.

The suspect in custody was transported to the Sawyer County Jail and is being held there. Investigation continues by the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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This is the sixth bank robbery in the area in the last month. Here's a list of the banks that were robbed.

October 8: Alliance Bank, Eau Claire

October 14: Security Bank, Ridgeland

October 21: Bremer Bank, Elk Mound

October 23: River Bank, Vernon County

October 29: Citizens Community Bank, Eau Claire

October 30: Dairyland State Bank, Exeland