Summary of Reports - LAPD Bank of America Shoot-Out - 02/28/97
ENN Instant Update 02/28/97 - 12:30CST
Foiled Bank Robbery; Police Shoot-out
By ENN News Team
(ENN) Police are still reportedly searching nearby neighborhoods for at least one bank robbery suspect following an attempted back robbery in N. Hollywood, CA. According to eyewitnesses, one of the suspects has been killed in a running gunbattle, where "dozens" of shots were fired. At least two suspects, one bystander, and two police officers are believed wounded in the incident, which is still under investigation at the time of this report.
Sources close to the N. Hollywood police tell ENN that the situation began a little after 09:30PST this morning, and that officers successfully thwarted the robbery. One witness described it as being "just like a movie," as officers and robbers fired shotguns and pistols, back and forth. A news helicopter hovered over the scene and showed live pictures of multiple shots being fired.
ENN continues to monitor this breaking story, and will provide additional details as they become available.
ENN Instant Update (Supplemental) 02/28/97 - 13:20CST
At least 10 People Shot in N.
Hollywood Bank Robbery
By C. L. Staten, ERRI
Senior Analyst
(ENN) At least ten people have been shot in a running gun battle at or near a Bank of America branch located at Kittridge and Laurel Canyon, in North Hollywood. Dramatic live helicopter pictures, broadcast earlier this morning, showed a "major firefight" between heavily armed bank robbers and police officers.
Police sources say that six police officers have been wounded in the incident, and that two robbers have been killed in the exchange of gunfire. Two bystanders are also reported wounded in the incident. Three suspects are reportedly in custody; some may be wounded.
A tense search continues in nearby neighborhoods for additional suspects, who were described as being armed with "assault weapons" and wearing bullet-proof vests. Witnesses said that they had difficulty differentiating between plainclothes police officers and the robbers because of the their appearance and the quality of equipment of the assailants.
Special police units (SWAT) and a "hostage rescue" APC were evident in one neighborhood at the time of this report. Literally hundreds of police have responded to the scene, and Interstate 170 has been closed as a precaution. Numerous intersections in the neighborhood are closed as police are seen methodically searching house-to-house.
ENN continues to monitor this situation and will provide an additional update, should circumstances change in N. Hollywood.
Excerpted from the ENN Emergency Service Report
Saturday, March 1, 1997
Vol. 1 - 060
LOS ANGELES TURNED INTO A WAR ZONE
...
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
LOS ANGELES (ENN) - The streets of Los Angeles were literally
turned into a war zone on Friday morning. Bandits who botched a
bank robbery turned their automatic weapons on police, bystanders
and even television helicopters. Two robbers were killed and at
least 17 people were wounded and injured in what may become one
of the fierciest shootouts in U.S. history. The entire gunbattle
was televised from start-to-finish on Los Angeles television.
One eyewitness caught in the shootout said, "They had black
masks over their faces and full black gear, with belts and ammo
around their waists. These guys were ready for war."
Six police officers and three civilians were wounded by gunshots.
Six other people were injured, including a police officer and a
civiilan caught in a car wreck.
After the shootout, LAPD Chief Willie Williams said that he did
not believe that there were more than two suspects. However, to
make sure, police officers conducted a door-to-door search in the
immediate area to search for any additional suspects. Freeways
were closed and police officers were sent to guard schools in the
area. The search was called off at about 2300 PST on Friday
night.
The incident bagan at about 0900 PST when police were called to
the scene of the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America on
Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The two gunmen were suspected in two
similar robberies in the past year. A police spokesman said that
the suspects had carved up Kevlar bullet-proof vests into armor
for nearly their entire bodies.
LAPD spokesman Tim McBride said, "This is not a militia
group. These are very organized, brutal bank robbery suspects.
They are killers. A firefight occurred that was horrendous. The
suspects continued to fire at officers who were undergunned for
over an hour." McBride added that the gunmen had "no
sense of conscience, no sense of dignity, no sense of respect for
life."
When police officers arrived on the scene, at the bank, they saw
the robbers leaving the building pushing a cart full of
cash in bags. The robbers than turned their guns on the people in
the bank. One customer was wounded. The shootout
with the robbers and police erupted and the suspects split up. A
witness to the beginning of the shootout said, "The guy who
was robbing it panicked. He shot back into the bank and then back
out."
One 28-year-old female bank customer was shot in the foot.
Another bystander described, "You could feel the bullets in
the air. You could hear hissssss-hisssssss-hissssss. And you
could hear the pop-pop-pop."
"There was a car outside with guns in the back of the trunk
and they kept shooting out, getting a new one and going back in,
going out again, getting a new gun and shooting again. He had so
many guns, I couldn't count," described another witness.
"He kept going in the trunk of the car and getting more
ammo. He was like in a trance."
One police officer was transported to Northridge Hospital in
serious condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
The entire shootout was broadcast live on television. One could
almost actually see the bullets flying in the air.
The suspects covered a four block area in their attempt to evade
officers in a mostly residential section. It is
amazing that despite having incredible firepower, no one other
than the suspects were killed.
On television, the first gunmen could be seen firing a gun as he
left the bank. He then went into the bank parking lot and
used several guns that were in the trunk of the getaway car.
A witness said, "Twenty or thirty cops were shooting back at
this guy. It was a couple of thousand rounds, non-stop for ten
minutes." The co-hort of the robber firing the guns drove a
white sedan slowly through the lot, trunk ajar. His partner
walking alongside, using the vehicle as a shield and firing at
officers. When the car hit the street, the gunman left the cover
of the car, still firing an automatic weapon. He walked some
distance and when his assault rifle ran out of ammo, he pulled
out a handgun and began firing. Suddenly out of nowhere, the
suspect was shot in the head and killed.
Five blocks away, after ramming a car, the other suspect in the
white sedan had to stop on four flattened tires. The limping
gunman grab more guns from the open trunk and try to steal an
abandoned pickup truck. He was unable to start the truck.
By this time, brave officers screeched in front of the suspect in
their patrol car and opened fire on the suspect, who had ran to
the front of the sedan. Bullets from both sides could be seen
being fired through the windshields. Additional officers, dressed
in SWAT gear and armed with automatic weapons were able to
outflank the suspect and ordered him to surrender. By this time,
the gunman had already been fatally wounded.
LAPD Chief Williams said, "Neither of these people
surrendered."
Police said that the gunmen were armed with pistols, assault
weapons and shotguns and had even more weapons in their car.
Their automatic rifles were capable of firing up to 100 rounds
without changing clips. Officers said that the bullets from their
9mm handguns "bounced off and they mushroomed and they fell
to the ground" off the suspects.
This gunbattle was so dangerous and the police were so outgunned
that officers went to a nearby gun shop to seek heavier
firepower. The owner of the gunshop said, "These people had
body armor and they (the police) needed something that would
break body armor, We supplied them with slugs that would at least
break bones on someone wearing body armor."
Several hours after the bank robbery, police were able to lead
out a number of people who had sought refuge in the vault of the
bank.
The following is the chronology of
the incident:
0900 PST - LAPD receive a bank robbery alarm at the Bank of
America
branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood.
0938 PST - Two heavily armed men wearing ski masks emerge from
the
bank.
0951 PST - One gunman fires at officers and uses the getaway car
as cover in the bank parking lot. At the street he leaves the
cover of the car. He continues to fire at police and television
news helicopters. He is shot in the head and killed.
0952 PST - The second suspect leaves the bank parking lot in the
getaway car and drives into a residential neighborhood.
0956 PST - The gunman stops at a pickup truck, in which a wise
civilian has abandoned during the incident. The suspect begins
to transfer weapons from the car to the truck and gets in. Brave
police officers approach, he gets out and there is a fierce
firefight. The suspect is fatally wounded by officers.
1100 PST - The LAPD announces that the two suspects have been
killed. Police continue to search for any additional bank
robbers.
2300 PST - Search for any other suspects is called off.
(C) EmergencyNet News Service, 1997. Redistribution without ENN permission is prohibited by law.