LENEXA, Kan. – A local man was charged yesterday with robbing the Credit Union of Johnson County Saturday morning and shooting an elderly witness to the heist in the head as he made his getaway.
Nicholas Kamphaus, 26, was charged with one count of armed bank robbery, but authorities said more charges are possible.
The suspect entered the credit union around 9 am, pointed a silver handgun at a teller, jumped over the counter next to her teller station and demanded money, according to police. He took money from two teller stations and fled the credit union.
As he was fleeing the credit union a 71-year-old member who was entering the branch saw the robber and was going to follow the thief in his own car. The witness was found by police in his mini-van a half-mile away from the credit union with several gunshot wounds, one to the head. The victim told police he believed the man who shot him was the robber and that he was driving an SUV with Colorado tags.
The witness was reported yesterday to be recovering from his wounds.
Another witness led police to Kamphaus’s house, where they found six spent 9 mm shell casings from the hood and windshield area of a white Isuzu Rodeo. Investigators searched the SUV and found a black backpack with a bundle of cash and a blue bandana.
