ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Two men armed with assault weapons and a handgun riddled a bank with gunfire during a holdup as it opened Thursday, killing a teller and wounding three people, police said.
The men opened fire as they burst through the rear door of a NationsBank branch on the city's east side about 9 a.m., said police Detective Fred Russell.
A security guard who fired at the men was shot and wounded. The robbers started to leave through the rear door but exchanged gunfire with a police officer summoned by a passerby. The robbers ran back into the bank, shooting, and out the front door, Russell said.
The men crossed a street, scrambled over a 51/2-foot stone fence surrounding the Richmond National Cemetery and fled through the rows of white headstones of Civil War soldiers. They hopped another fence on the opposite side of the cemetery and drove away, Russell said.
Four of the five people inside the bank were shot, police said. Lori A. Robinson, 23, died of a gunshot wound to her chest, police said.
All of the injured were taken to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, but their wounds were not life-threatening, Russell said.
Security guard Floyd H. Dean was shot in the head, said Eric Adkins, a friend of Dean's who works at an auto repair shop nearby. Adkins said he heard the shots and saw Dean lying in the bank parking lot.
``I ran over and tried to help him. I put a rag over the side of his face. He kept trying to get up and I kept telling him to stay down,'' said Adkins, who frequently visited Dean at the bank.
Dean, who worked for a private security company, underwent surgery at the hospital. MCV officials refused to comment on the condition of any of the wounded.
Detectives found an undetermined amount of cash, a gray hat and a can of lighter fluid the thieves apparently dropped as they cleared the stone wall, police said.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB