ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: Associated Press
Dressed like commandos, a group of masked robbers bungled a bank heist Friday and came out firing, unleashing their arsenal on police, bystanders, cars and even the TV choppers broadcasting it all live.
When the shooting stopped, two robbers were dead and at least five bystanders and nine police officers were wounded by gunfire. One other officer and one civilian were injured in a related car wreck.
Bank customers and employees locked themselves in a vault for protection, people in a market across the street were trapped, and police and others in nearby businesses took cover wherever they could.
``These guys were ready for war,'' said Bob McKibben, a store manager who watched the battle. ``They had black masks over their faces and full black gear, with belts and ammo around their waists.''
A manhunt was immediately started for one or more suspects who were believed to have gotten away. Nearby schools and freeways were closed, and residents were told to stay in their homes.
At one point in the afternoon, the LAPD used its armored battering ram to smash down the wall of a North Hollywood home, looking for suspects. The police didn't find any.
Later, Police Chief Willie Williams said the two dead men may have been the only robbers. But a large area of North Hollywood remained sealed as police investigated.
Police Cmdr. Tim McBride said the men were known to the FBI for robbing at least two other banks and were motivated by money, not politics.
``This is not a militia group; these are brutal killers who were robbing and taking these people's money,'' McBride said.
The shootout erupted at the Bank of America in North Hollywood when officers responded to an alarm shortly after the bank opened. As many as five robbers were believed to be involved, police said.
After the robbery went awry, the bandits fled the bank, and one of them brazenly strolled back and forth in an adjacent parking lot, reeling off round after round from an AK-47-style assault rifle until he was shot to death by police.
A second robber limped to a heavily fortified getaway car and slowly drove about two blocks before commandeering a pickup truck. The truck driver fled, and after transferring some weapons into the truck, the gunman climbed into the pickup, then got out and opened fire at police before being shot to death by the officers.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. A commando-clad, masked robber wields an AK-47-styleby CNBassault rifle in an adjacent parking lot in North Hollywood after a
bungled bank robbery Friday. Police later shot him and his
accomplice dead. KEYWORDS: FATALITY