HOUSTON – Surveillance images of men suspected of robbing a bank inside a grocery store and shooting an off-duty Harris County sheriff's sergeant were released on Friday.
Fort Bend County sheriff's deputies said two masked men robbed the Wells Fargo bank inside the Randalls store on New Territory Boulevard near Highway 99 about 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Investigators said they went to the store in a stolen Dodge Durango.
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Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said Sgt. Mike Ellison, 46, went to the bank as a customer and noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot.
Ellison, a plain-clothes detective in the financial crimes unit, went into the store and confronted the robbers, investigators said.
Detectives said Ellison and the robbers exchanged gunshots. Ellison was wounded twice.
Ellison was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He was released from the hospital Friday morning.
One of the robbers was described as black and wearing a white hooded pullover with a distinctive skull pattern on the front and back. The front pattern shows a white skull on a black and green background. The back pattern shows two skulls on a black and green background.
He and the other robber were wearing do-rags over their faces, investigators said. A detailed description of the clothing the second man was wearing has not been released.
A description of the getaway driver has not been released.
The men got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. They were last seen in a dark-colored Honda.
Ellison has been on the force for 26 years, officials said. He is also the pastor at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Richmond.
Anyone with information is asked to call Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281-342-TIPS or Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.
Wells Fargo has posted a $25,000 reward in the case, and Fort Bend Crime Stoppers and Crime Stoppers of Houston are both offering up to $5,000 for information.