IE bank robbery, police chase suspect shoots himself, ending hourslong standoff outside San Diego hospital
SAN DIEGO (KABC) -- A tense standoff outside a San Diego hospital following a chase of an armed bank robbery suspect from Riverside came to an end Thursday morning after authorities confirmed the suspect shot himself.
The incident began Wednesday night when the suspect allegedly robbed a bank at gunpoint just before 6 p.m. in the 19300 block of Van Buren Boulevard and fled the scene, police said.
The suspect then led police and Riverside County sheriff's deputies on a chase starting on the southbound 215 Freeway.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department took over the pursuit from Riverside authorities when the chase entered San Diego County. The suspect stopped in front of Rady Children's Hospital, and a standoff ensued.
Officers and K-9s surrounded the suspect's vehicle, a black SUV. The SUV was parked outside the hospital overnight, as police told people inside to shelter in place.
San Diego police confirmed early Thursday morning that the suspect had shot himself. Police later confirmed to KGTV that the suspect died from the self-inflicted wound.
The suspect was identified by the San Diego County Medical examiner as 53-year-old Rolando Fremista.
The FBI said it believes Fremista was a possible suspect in four robberies over the past 10 months in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Luis Obispo counties, dating back to April 2019.
Fremista, who the FBI believes to be known to them as the "masked man bandit," was arrested in Los Angeles in 2000 for a bank robbery, the agency said.
