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DNA technology solved the 19-year-old cold case of the “Cowboy Hat Bandit.” And the man who allegedly shot motorcycle cop Jeff Garner, after robbing a Texas bank committed suicide.

On Sunday as police prepared to arrest him, Mark Alan Long, 60, was found dead. His body was discovered in southeast Oklahoma City close to a cell tower. 

Authorities believe he killed himself. And the medical examiner will report on details when the autopsy is complete.

With Long’s death, the cold case is finally closed.  But his friends and family are shocked, by the possibility, that he may have robbed six banks in three states, 19 years ago. And he also shot Garner in the last known anyone. 

Now a North Richland Hills police captain Jeff Garner survived the shooting. But the event haunted him.

"While it's inconsequential to any prosecution that won't take place now, 19 years, one month, and nine days later I identified Mark Long in a photo lineup,” Garner said. “I never forgot his face."

Cowboy Hat Bandit was active from 1998 to 2003

In 2003, North Richland Hills, Jeff Garner was a motorcycle officer on patrol. He stopped a white Jeep for traffic violations. Instead, a man fired several shots at Garner, hitting him in his leg. Garner returned fire, but the suspect was never caught. 

Investigators said the man that shot Garner had just robbed the Bank One in nearby Watauga, Texas.

The case quickly went cold.

 Detective Erik Whitlock was instrumental in reopening the case in 2015. He used newly available resources including DNA genealogy. And he also linked the suspect to 7 bank robberies between 1998 and 2003.

Wearing different mustaches and disguises, the suspect was captured on surveillance videos in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. And the Cowboy Hat Bandit was wearing the same hat at each robbery.

In 2016, it became a multi-agency investigation. And the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, as well as Dallas and Oklahoma City field offices of the FBI were all involved.

DNA and Ballistics unlock cold case in 2021

In December 2021, Long was identified as the suspect in the crimes. 

"On December 14, 2021, we were notified that this individual Mark Alan Long was believed to be the suspect associated with the DNA profiles found at three of the bank robberies at Oklahoma City and Arlington," detective Erik Whitlock explained.

It was the relatively new science of DNA technology that the match was made. Long’s DNA matched some found of the bank robberies, police said.

A DNA match on a public DNA comparison platform pointed to Long.

Undercover detectives got Long’s DNA from utensils and napkins he used in an Oklahoma restaurant to confirm the match. 

A search warrant for Long’s home was issued. 

Police also tracked a Jeep that Long had previously owned, damage consistent with a bullet hole was found. Along with DNA, and the gun evidence the Jeep truck had tailgate damage from Garner firing back.

Mark Long had kept the gun used in the bank robberies. And it was also used to shoot Garner in 2003.

"That weapon being found in context to him leaving it out in the interview as a weapon he owned got a lot of us excited,” Whitlock said. “That 19 years later he did actually keep the weapon he used in multiple bank robberies and to shoot officer Garner."

Before Mark Alan Long was found dead, an arrest warrant was issued.  Police said he was facing charges of attempted capital murder of a peace officer, aggravated robbery and two counts of robbery.