Shootout kills bank robbery suspect, and Skokie cop is saved by bulletproof vest

A quiet block of large homes in north suburban Lincolnwood was the scene of a shootout Monday afternoon when a Skokie police officer pulled over a car driven by a bank robbery suspect and they exchanged shots before the suspect was fatally wounded, police said.

The officer, whom Skokie police did not identify, escaped injury when his bulletproof vest repelled a shot fired at him, according to an official at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where the officer was treated and released.

The suspect also was taken to St. Francis and later died. He was identified as Rodney Moore, 34, of Merrillville, Ind., a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

It all started around 4:50 p.m. when a black male wearing a blue-and-white bandanna held up a Fifth Third bank at 240 Skokie Blvd. in Northbrook, said Skokie Police Officer Frederick W. Brehmer. A Skokie officer spotted a white car with a license plate matching the description of the suspect's vehicle on the Edens Expressway, he said.

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