Police: Wisconsin state trooper shot and killed in Fond du Lac

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Authorities say a Wisconsin state trooper was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with a person who matched the description of a bank robbery suspect. Police said the suspect also was killed.

Fond du Lac Police Chief William Lamb said at a brief news conference late Tuesday that the Wisconsin State Patrol trooper was following the suspect’s vehicle about 5:30 p.m. when the incident occurred.

“Both the trooper and the suspect were killed in the exchange of gunfire,” Lamb said. He said no other suspects were being sought. No details were available about the trooper or the suspect.

The state Department of Justice said its Division of Criminal Investigation was investigating several crimes that occurred Tuesday in Marinette County and in Fond du Lac, including the death of the trooper.

“We cannot confirm at this time definitively how these crimes fit together but investigators are working to provide an accurate timeline of events,” the department said in a statement late Tuesday.

The Marinette County Sheriff’s office issued a statement saying authorities had been notified about 1:43 p.m. of a bank robbery in the village of Wausaukee. It said a man had fired one round from a handgun and robbed the bank. It said it later learned the suspect had exchanged gunfire with a state trooper in Fond du Lac.

The Division of Criminal Investigation’s Dave Matthews said at the news conference that it was a “large and comprehensive” investigation but that it was too early to provide more information.