A robbery suspect was hospitalized in critical condition after he apparently shot himself as he was about to be arrested Thursday evening, March 2, police said Saturday evening, March 4.

The suspect, who was described only as a 40-year-old Bellingham man, led Bellingham Police and Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies on a chase from the east end of North Shore Drive to an area near Old Fairhaven Parkway and 22nd Street, said police Lt. Claudia Murphy.

In an email, Murphy told The Bellingham Herald that the chase started as sheriff’s deputies tried to arrest the unidentified man on outstanding warrants at Lake Whatcom Park.

No arrests for robbery were recorded in the Whatcom County Jail’s online booking records from Thursday night through Saturday.

“Deputies attempted to stop the driver, but he continued to flee along Electric, Lakeway and eventually crashed his car over a retaining wall at the dead end of Julia Avenue in Bellingham,” Murphy said in an email.

He fled on foot after he crashed his car, with police and a police dog in pursuit, she said.

Officers cornered him at Interstate 5 and used a “less-lethal munitions launcher to deploy a drag-stabilized flexible baton” aimed at the unidentified man’s upper rear leg, Murphy said.

“Immediately after the less-lethal deployment officers in the area heard a gunshot and the driver fell to the ground. Officers moved in on the driver, noted he was suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and immediately began lifesaving measures,” Murphy said.

Bellingham firefighters took the unidentified man to St. Joseph hospital where he was in critical condition, Murphy said.