WILCOX, Ala. — Four Loxley police officers are back at work after they were cleared by a Baldwin County Sheriff's Office investigation in the shooting of a suspected bank robber, 48-year-old Raymond Schaefer of Dulac, La.

While the case has to go to the Baldwin County District Attorney’s office and then to a Baldwin County Grand Jury, the four officers have been given clearance to return to duty from the Sheriff's Office.

That’s a relief, says Lt. Raymond Lovell of the Loxley Police Department, who says the department has 14 officers.

“It’s been hard to deal with, and there’s been a lot of overtime,” said Lovell, “but any situation like this is hard.” Lovell added that the officers involved have been receiving counseling to help them manage the aftermath of the incident.

Schaefer was a suspect in the robbery of the Regions Bank branch in Malbis near Highway 181 which occurred around 9:07 the morning of Friday, Sept. 12.

Police say he pulled out a gun, demanded money and then took off in a Chevrolet pickup truck. The suspect was cornered going eastbound on I-10 by four Loxley police officers just past the Wilcox exit.

According to Maj. Anthony Lowrey, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office, Schaefer left his truck, moved a short distance away on the grassy median, and displayed a small handgun. Two other weapons and money from the robbery were recovered from Schaefer’s truck.

“Shots were fired and the suspect died at the scene,” said Lowrey. “There is every indication,“ said Lowrey in a telephone interview on Tuesday, “that the officers acted correctly. It is unfortunate that sometimes the officers have to do this, but they had to defend themselves.”

Schaefer’s body was given to Coroner James Small who is expected to have the body autopsied by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.