The suspected bank robber who exchanged gunfire with police in downtown Auburn on the afternoon of Sept. 21 died later that day at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The KCME on Tuesday afternoon identified the dead man as Steven Boes, 31. It gave his cause of death as “contact, handgun wound penetrating head,” and the manner of death as “suicide.”

Auburn Police Cmdr. Steve Stocker said it had been unclear on the day of the incident whether the officer shot Boes or if Boes shot himself. According to Stocker, Boes was “a King County resident with ties to Federal Way. He was not an Auburn resident.”

The Auburn Reporter was unable to contact members of Boes’ family.

Here is what happened, according to the following account given by Auburn Police.

The incident began to unfold at 12:04 p.m. Sept. 21 when police received a call about a robbery at KeyBank at 1 E Main St., reporting that a man in his 30s had entered the bank wearing a wig and baseball cap, approached a teller, implied that he had a gun and demanded money. He left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money and got into a white, four-door sedan with a woman in her late 20s at the wheel.

According to the police account, the vehicle turned onto D Street, passing in front of the Auburn Police Department as officers were starting to leave the lot to respond to the robbery call.

An officer pulled in behind the car and saw that the passenger door was open because the robbery suspect had gotten out and started to walk down an alley towards Auburn Way South. Keeping their eyes on the woman, officers behind the car approached it.

According to the police account, at that moment, bicycle officer Eric Mattson approached the area, stopped at 2nd and D St. SE and got off of his bike to help secure the area because officers believed the suspect was nearby.

According to the police account, the suspect then appeared from the alley area and fired three shots at Mattson from a handgun he had with him. The shot narrowly missed Mattson and went through the window of a nearby home without hurting anyone. Mattson drew his weapon and fired two shots at the suspect that missed the suspect, and he ran west down the alley out of view of police officers.

“The suspect stopped half way down the alley and put his own gun to his head and shot himself. Auburn officers then found the suspect lying in the alley and performed life-saving measures until Fire and Medic personnel arrived. Medics transported the suspect to Harborview Medical Center, where he later passed away from his injuries,” according to the police account.

According to Stocker, a witness observed the entire event, and the evidence and the KCME autopsy corroborates the witness and officer statements.

“We are very happy that no officer or innocent person(s) were injured during this event,” Stocker said.

As for the woman who drove the car, Stocker said, “that’s still being investigated. She did not get booked that day and was not taken to jail.”

The Valley Investigation Team continues to investigate. Stocker said the team received information that Boes was responsible for the robbery at Umpqua Bank in Auburn on Sept. 17.