Table Of ContentSummary 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.
