Police believe violent robberies in Irving and Oklahoma are connected

Irving police think a man, killed in a shootout with police in Oklahoma, is the same man they wanted for a violent gas station robbery.

Surveillance cameras at an Irving Shell station caught the armed robbery in progress on January 19th.

Carrying a plastic sack in one hand and a gun in the other, the suspect strolls into the gas station and confronts the 53-year-old clerk, who was alone inside. He pointed the gun at the clerk and demanded his car keys. When the clerk refused and tried to leave the store, police say the suspect grabbed a metal bat and started beating the him.

The robber spent a full five minutes in the store before leaving with the clerk's SUV parked out front.

Fast forward two days and 200 miles away. A man shoots and kills the a bank president in Eufaula, Oklahoma, seconds after walking in. He also shot a teller who is recovering.

The suspect then takes a female customer hostage, leading Oklahoma police on a chase in the same SUV that was stolen in Irving. That chase ended in a shootout and the robberw as killed. His hostage was shot at one point after being used as a human shield, but is expected to be okay.

Police in Oklahoma identified the robbery suspect as 39-year-old Cedric Lamont Norris.

Irving police say they are close to confirming Norris as the man who committed the North Texas robbery as well, and believe these two incidents may have been part of a larger crime spree.