A woman involved with Monday’s robbery of the First Harrison Bank in Palmyra has been apprehended in Salem, IN.
WSLM has learned the suspect involved has been located and is currently receiving medical care. Police say charges are pending. That name of the suspect has not been released but WSLM has also learned she has been an employee at the bank.
According to Police Chief Wayne Kessinger with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, the robbery started when the suspect, described as a white female in her 40s wearing dark clothing, entered the bank armed with a gun. The robbery took place shortly after 10 a.m. Dec. 30 at the First Harrison Bank located at the intersection of U.S. 150 and State Road 135 in the center of Palmyra.
Kessinger says the woman handed the teller a note demanding money. Other employees who noticed the suspicious behavior hid in the basement during the robbery.
According to Kessinger, as the teller was complying with the suspect’s demand for money, she was able to alert a customer at the drive-thru window of the robbery by silently mouthing the words “call police.”
When officers arrived, the woman had already escaped through a back door. Police are still actively searching for the woman.
“We’re looking for a white female, about 40 years old, five feet four, 220 pounds, dark clothing and possibly in a white SUV,” Kessinger said Monday afternoon. “Anybody that goes into a bank armed with a weapon and takes money with 10 to 14 employees is a dangerous individual,” Kessinger said. “Whatever the reason is, they carried that gun for a specific reason, and it is not just to scare you, it’s to use.”
Kessinger says bank robberies in Palmyra are out of the ordinary.
“It’s an unusual occurrence for this area, it really is,” Kessinger said, but praised bank employees for their poise under pressure.
“They did a great job, the way they are trained to do,” Kessinger said. “They handled themselves extremely well and held their composure really well for a situation such as this.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Harrison County Sheriff’s office at 812-738-2195.
