SUGAR LAND, Texas -- A police officer fatally shot a suspected bank robber during a traffic stop on the Southwest Freeway, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Sugar Land police said a man walked into the Wachovia Bank, 17044 Lexington Blvd., at about 9 a.m. Tuesday wearing gloves and waving a pistol.

Detectives said the man pointed his gun at a customer and walked out with a bag of cash.

A witness spotted the getaway car and called police with a description.

Officer Johnny Partida spotted the robber's getaway car, a silver 2008 Nissan Altima, on the Southwest Freeway at the Brazos River and followed it, investigators said.

An officer stopped the vehicle on the freeway. As the officer was walking up to the car, the suspected robber pulled out a gun, police said.

"He attempted to make a traffic stop and when the suspect did pull over, he produced a firearm, and the officer fired on him," said Lt. Justin Joyce with the Sugar Land Police Department.

According to police, the driver, identified as Jay Walker, 42, started to get out of his vehicle with the pistol in his hand. That's when Partida shot at him.

Walker fell back into his car, where he died.

Police said Walker was from Missouri City.

Investigators said they found cash from the bank heist inside Walker's car, along with clothes and personal possessions.

The Southwest Freeway was shut down for a while after the shooting. The southbound lanes of Highway 59 reopened at about 12:30 p.m. The northbound lanes reopened shortly before 10:30 a.m.

The bank robbery was the seventh in Sugar Land this year.