MattB
2014-07-17 20:01:50 UTC
Mother killed, teen in custody after violent California bank robbery
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/17/us/california-bank-robbery/index.html
(CNN) -- Jose Maldonado was getting off the bus when the suspects
exited the Stockton, California, bank with their hostages.
Police had already arrived at the Bank of the West, the witness told
CNN affiliate KOVR-TV on Wednesday, but authorities couldn't take out
the assailants, not with their guns trained on a customer and two bank
employees.
"There was three guys, had three guns and three hostages, and they had
the guns to the hostages' heads," Maldonado told the Sacramento
station. "They were petrified. Their faces were white. They were just
so scared."
Climbing into a Ford Explorer belonging to one of the hostages, the
robbery suspects made one of the hostages drive. Police "surrounded
the car, and they just couldn't shoot at them because they were so
close to the hostages. They just drove right out of the parking lot,"
Maldonado said.
The security guard who called the police had been tied up inside the
bank amid frightened patrons and tellers, authorities said.
As the suspects fled, a 12-year-old was left stranded in the parking
lot after her mother, who had gone inside to withdraw money, became
one of the three hostages. The girl texted her father saying, "They
took mom," a man who identified himself as Devin J., one of the
woman's cousins, told a local television station.
For the next hour, police would chase the SUV on surface streets and
interstates through Lodi to Acampo, then 20 miles back to Stockton.
Gunfire from a semiautomatic "AK-47-type assault rifle" and other
weapons struck 14 of the 50 or so squad cars that gave chase, police
said.
Several police cars and an assault vehicle were disabled in the chase
and gunfight, police said.
What concerned Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones most was the
perpetrators' recklessness and wanton violence, he said. Two female
hostages either jumped or were thrown from the vehicle -- one shot,
one grazed -- and the third victim, the mother, was killed.
It wasn't clear whether police or the robbers killed her, but one
suspect acknowledged using her as a human shield, Jones said.
The other two hostages are expected to survive, he said.
Asked why police opened fire on the men when they held a woman
hostage, police spokesman Joseph Silva told reporters, "There was a
fear for safety, not only for our officers, but also for the
community."
Jones added during a Thursday news conference that it was "frankly
amazing" no officers were hit, though some had close calls. More than
20 officers were on paid leave as of Thursday per department policy
following a shooting, he said.
The suspects, who were gang members or associates, were armed to the
teeth, the chief said, and appeared to be out for blood.
"The suspects had mass amounts of ammunition, either taped to or
strapped to their bodies. The gunfire on our officers was relentless,"
he said.
........................
The surviving suspect, Jaime Ramos, 19, of Stockton was wrapped in a
yellow blanket and escorted to a police car, where he was taken to San
Joaquin County Jail and booked on felony charges of murder,
kidnapping, robbery and attempted homicide of police officers. He is
expected to make a court appearance Monday.
Ramos is an associate of known gang members, and he revealed to police
that he was uninjured in the gunfire exchange because he used the last
remaining hostage as a shield, the chief said.
*************
Gang members should be treated like terrorist?
Maybe it is the people pulling the trigger that is the problem.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/17/us/california-bank-robbery/index.html
(CNN) -- Jose Maldonado was getting off the bus when the suspects
exited the Stockton, California, bank with their hostages.
Police had already arrived at the Bank of the West, the witness told
CNN affiliate KOVR-TV on Wednesday, but authorities couldn't take out
the assailants, not with their guns trained on a customer and two bank
employees.
"There was three guys, had three guns and three hostages, and they had
the guns to the hostages' heads," Maldonado told the Sacramento
station. "They were petrified. Their faces were white. They were just
so scared."
Climbing into a Ford Explorer belonging to one of the hostages, the
robbery suspects made one of the hostages drive. Police "surrounded
the car, and they just couldn't shoot at them because they were so
close to the hostages. They just drove right out of the parking lot,"
Maldonado said.
The security guard who called the police had been tied up inside the
bank amid frightened patrons and tellers, authorities said.
As the suspects fled, a 12-year-old was left stranded in the parking
lot after her mother, who had gone inside to withdraw money, became
one of the three hostages. The girl texted her father saying, "They
took mom," a man who identified himself as Devin J., one of the
woman's cousins, told a local television station.
For the next hour, police would chase the SUV on surface streets and
interstates through Lodi to Acampo, then 20 miles back to Stockton.
Gunfire from a semiautomatic "AK-47-type assault rifle" and other
weapons struck 14 of the 50 or so squad cars that gave chase, police
said.
Several police cars and an assault vehicle were disabled in the chase
and gunfight, police said.
What concerned Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones most was the
perpetrators' recklessness and wanton violence, he said. Two female
hostages either jumped or were thrown from the vehicle -- one shot,
one grazed -- and the third victim, the mother, was killed.
It wasn't clear whether police or the robbers killed her, but one
suspect acknowledged using her as a human shield, Jones said.
The other two hostages are expected to survive, he said.
Asked why police opened fire on the men when they held a woman
hostage, police spokesman Joseph Silva told reporters, "There was a
fear for safety, not only for our officers, but also for the
community."
Jones added during a Thursday news conference that it was "frankly
amazing" no officers were hit, though some had close calls. More than
20 officers were on paid leave as of Thursday per department policy
following a shooting, he said.
The suspects, who were gang members or associates, were armed to the
teeth, the chief said, and appeared to be out for blood.
"The suspects had mass amounts of ammunition, either taped to or
strapped to their bodies. The gunfire on our officers was relentless,"
he said.
........................
The surviving suspect, Jaime Ramos, 19, of Stockton was wrapped in a
yellow blanket and escorted to a police car, where he was taken to San
Joaquin County Jail and booked on felony charges of murder,
kidnapping, robbery and attempted homicide of police officers. He is
expected to make a court appearance Monday.
Ramos is an associate of known gang members, and he revealed to police
that he was uninjured in the gunfire exchange because he used the last
remaining hostage as a shield, the chief said.
*************
Gang members should be treated like terrorist?
Maybe it is the people pulling the trigger that is the problem.