Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! Haynes' patrol car. Among the items seized included incendiary 7.6239mm ammunition, flak jackets and ballistic helmets, approximately $400,000 in stolen cash and various firearms. On that Friday morning, after months of planning two armed bank robbers entered and robbed the North Hollywood Bank of America branch in California. 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out, "How the North Hollywood Shootout Changed Patrol Arsenals", "44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shootout", https://adevarul.ro/stiri-locale/suceava/banditul-roman-care-a-schimbat-legile-din-statele-1832146.html, "Shootout in L.A. 2 'armed-for-war' robbers killed; 16 hurt in failed heist", "Bernard C. Parks to Honorable Board of Police Commissioners, June 12, 1998", "20 years ago, a dramatic North Hollywood shootout changed the course of the LAPD and policing at large", "Botched L.A. bank heist turns into bloody shootout", "Once Banned, Now Loved and Loathed: How the AR-15 Became 'America's Rifle', "Miami police given option to patrol with assault rifles", "North Hollywood Bank Shootout_February 28, 1997", "Bernard C. Parks to Honorable Board of Police Commissioners", "Bank Robber Bled to Death, Autopsy Shows", "20 years ago, gunbattle terrorized North Hollywood and shocked America", "Dying Bank Robber's Last Words To Police:: 'Shoot Me In The Head', "Police Kill 2 Bank Robbery Suspects in a Wild Gun Battle", "North Hollywood Shootout Safehouse Arsenal", "Interdepartmental Correspondence, OIS #18-97", Offbeat L.A.: Police on my Back- The LAPD Museum, "LAPD museum showcases department's good, bad, ugly", "Lawsuit accuses L.A. police of letting wounded gunman die", "Mistrial Declared in Case Stemming From Shootout", "Stunned police, residents cope with aftermath of L.A. shootout", "Family of robber killed in L.A. shootout sues", "2007 National Geographic Channel episode of Situation Critical North Hollywood Shootout", Casefile True Crime Podcast Case 18: The North Hollywood Shootout. After the incident, the LAPD realized that their 9mm handguns were not going to suffice if there was a similar circumstance in the future, so they received 600 M-16 military rifles from the Pentagon. The Argentine immigrant then sprinted to a nearby cleaners, where he pulled a woman to safety just as bullets shattered a window. See production, box office & company info, The Screen Junkies Show: Greatest Movie Bank Robbery Ever, Number of real LAPD Officers used as extras: 35, Number of rounds of blank ammunition fired: 40,000, Amount of theatrical blood used: 10 gallons. North of the bank across Archwood Street, bullets drilled through the stucco of Baskin-Robbins, piercing ice cream counters above the pistachio almond bucket, as well as an ice cream cake in a now patched-up freezer. NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Twenty-five years ago Monday, what became known as the North Hollywood shootout took place. CNN. The SWAT team (Donnie Anderson, Steve Gomez, Peter Weireter, and Richard Massa) arrived 18 minutes after the shooting had begun. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. The two robbers were confronted by LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Filming The door, which was only made to withstand small caliber ammunition, broke open after a few shots from their modified Type 56 rifles. [12] After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them, except for the confiscated firearms and explosives. Emil Matasareanu and Larry Phillips Jr. were bank robbers: That was their job. Both robbers were killed, eleven police officers and seven civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.REF 12303 To license this footage or use in a broadcast contact Launchpad Entertainment, info@lpe360.com [10] Initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery,[11] both served 100 days in jail and were placed on three years of probation due to plea bargaining. Mtsreanu became so enraged that he emptied a 75 round drum magazine into the vault, destroying the rest of the money. We have pea shooters compared to what these guys have.. What was meant to be a simple North Hollywood bank robbery became the catalyst for the militarization of American police forces and forever changed the face of daytime television. [4], Mtsreanu, enraged at this development, argued with Villigrana and demanded more. [25][26], The ineffectiveness of the standard small-caliber police pistols and shotguns in penetrating the robbers' body armor led to a trend in the United States toward arming selected police patrol officers, not just SWAT teams, with heavier firepower such as semi-automatic AR-15-style rifles. On February 28, 1997, Larry Eugene PhillipsJr. and Emil Mtsreanuwalked into a bank in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles and started the clock on 44 of the most violent minutes to ever occur in Southern California. At 9:16 AM, Larry Philips Jr. and Emil Mtsreanu begun their robbery of Bank Of America's North Hollywood branch. Remember, both of the robbers were wearing an extensive amount of body armor, so these 10 body shots that actually penetrated the men are in addition tothe shots that were absorbed by their homemade vests and trauma plates. "[31], Ambulance personnel were following standard procedure in hostile situations by refusing to enter "the hot zone", as the area was not cleared and Mtsreanu was still considered to be dangerous. They didn't care," Massa told CNN. Robbery. Its owner, Fred Abdo, was headed to work when he saw the bandits, in dark clothing and ski masks. Below, watch NBC4 News footage from that day. On Saturday, B.C. Outside, LAPD Officer Bill Lantz was five days out of the police academy when he and his training officer cowered behind their cruiser in the intersection. The gun battle lasted 44 minutes. It's obviously a bit of a PR piece for the LAPD, but it also makes some really good points about the availability of assault weapons and the failings of the justice and political system in keeping crooks from getting them. He kept shooting until an officer managed to shoot him in the hand. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. [6][7], On July 20, 1993, Phillips and Mtsreanu robbed an armored car outside a branch of FirstBank in Littleton, Colorado. I watched this on cable the other night and was very pleasantly surprised. However, aramid body armor worn by Phillips and Mtsreanu covered all of their vitals (except their heads), enabling them to absorb pistol bullets and shotgun pellets, while Mtsreanu's chest armor, thanks to a steel armor plate, successfully withstood a hit from a SWAT officer's AR-15. Both robbers were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.[1]. SWAT officers joined by sheriff's deputies using K-9s went door-to-door in search of possible additional suspects in the North Hollywood Shootout. 9:17 a.m. NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In 1997, two bank robbers armed with an arsenal of weapons started one of the most prolific gun battles in L.A.'s history. On February 28, 1997, two bank robbers engaged in a shootout with dozens of Los Angeles police officers in what became known as the North Hollywood Bank of America Shootout. The shootout continued onto a residential street adjacent to the bank until Phillips, mortally wounded, succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound; Mtsreanu was incapacitated by officers three blocks away and subsequently bled to death before the arrival of paramedics more than an hour later. [8], On October 29, they were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, for operating a stolen vehicle. Several officers acquired five AR-15-style rifles from a nearby gun store to combat the robbers. They were also suspects in two armored car robberies. He was shot four times before leaping through an exploding glass doorway. "Shoot-Out in North Hollywood: Command and Communications" by Nancy J. Rigg (focusing on dispatch and command post coordination), 27 minutes of helicopter footage of the shootout from the LA News Archive, Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Library, Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Hollywood_shootout&oldid=1141508680, Law enforcement operations in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2018, Articles with dead external links from October 2022, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Sergeant Larry "Dean" Haynes was hit in the left shoulder, Officer Martin Whitfield was shot and seriously wounded four times in the left arm, right femur and chest, Officer Conrado Torrez was grazed in the right side of the neck, Officer James Zboravan was shot twice and seriously wounded in the lower back, hip and thigh, Detective William "John" Krulac was hit in the right ankle, Detective Tracey Angeles was grazed in the stomach and buttock, Officer Stuart Guy was hit twice in the right femur and right forearm, Detective Earl Valladares was hit in the head by flying debris, Officer Ed Brentlinger was hit by gunfire and by concrete fragments on his face and left forearm, Officer William Lantz was hit in the right knee, Officer John Goodman was hit by flying glass and shrapnel, Officer David Grimes was injured in a traffic accident, John Villigrana was struck across the head by the stock of an assault rifle, Barry Golding was hit by flying glass and shrapnel, Michael Horen was hit in the left side of the chest, Jose Haro was hit by flying glass and shrapnel, William Marr was hit by glass and shrapnel fragments in the right arm, left temple and nose. "The High Incident Bandits", were a pair of murderous bank robbers and cop killers famous for perpetrating a deadly shootout with Los Angeles officers after robbing a bank on February 28, 1997. History Channel. 19 Facts About The North Hollywood Shootout, One Of The Most Notorious Modern Bank Robberies, $750,000 Larry PhillipsJr.and Emil Mtsreanu had expected. All rights reserved, North Hollywood Shootout: Dramatic Images of the Bloody Gun Battle, North Hollywood Shootout: Officer Recalls Surviving Armor-Piercing Bullet Wounds, Avalanche Blocks Road in Mount Baldy Area After Cold Storm Drops Several Feet of Snow, 5 Freeway Closed North of LA Due to Snow and Poor Visibility, March 1983: The Day a Rare Tornado Rampaged Through Los Angeles, Early Risers Capture Dramatic Views of LA With Snow-Draped Mountains. Figures of the North Hollywood shootout suspects, Larry Phillips, Jr., and Emil Matasareanu as they were dressed on the day of the robbery in North Hollywood are on display at the Los Angeles Police museum in Highland Park. Stars: Jesse Metcalfe, Michael Madsen, Ron Livingston, Francis Capra, Mario Van Peebles, Katrina Law, JE Freeman, Cameron Dye, Clare Carey, Oleg Taktarov, Jay Underwood, Douglas Spain, Dale Dye, Andrew Bryniarski, Alex Meneses, Ray Baker, Jullian Dulce Vida, Jerry . [19], Phillips and Mtsreanu, driving a white 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity, arrived at the Bank of America branch at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:16a.m., and set their watch alarms for eight minutes, the police response time they had estimated. It's the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for law enforcement agencies and police departments worldwide. A civil-rights lawsuit later filed on behalf of Matasareanus two young children alleged he was deliberately allowed to bleed to death. Director Yves Simoneau Writer Tim Metcalfe Stars Michael Madsen There was no mistaking their intention, dressed as they were in black ski masks and about 40 pounds each . Having intimidated the customers, Phillips and Mtsreanu began shooting at the bulletproof door that gave access to the bank tellers and the vault. [1], Due to the large number of injuries and rounds fired, equipment used by the robbers, and overall length of the shootout, it is regarded as one of the most intense and significant gun battles in U.S. police history. According to reports, the two robbers, 26-year-old Larry Eugene Phillips Jr. and 30-year-old Emil Matasareanu, entered the Bank of America in North Hollywood early in the morning on February 28, 1997, wearing body armor and ski masks. He quickly transferred all of his weapons and ammunition from the getaway car, but was unable to operate the Jeep due to the driver engaging the electrical kill switch before fleeing. Military veterans quickly recognized the telltale blat of the Russian-designed AK-47 assault rifle. NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In 1997, two bank robbers armed with an arsenal of weapons started one of the most prolific gun battles in L.A.'s history. The North Hollywood shootout involved two bank robbers wearing bulletproof vests and homemade body armour on their legs and carrying automatic rifles. The shootout lasted over 40 minutes and resulted in the death of Phillips and Matasareanu. The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los . As KCBS and KCAL helicopters hovered overhead, a patrol car driven by SWAT officers Donnie Anderson, Steve Gomez, and Richard Massa quickly arrived and stopped on the opposite side of the truck to where the Chevrolet was stopped. Rehder and Dillow, pp. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. More than one, more than one, responded a frantic officer recorded on audiotape. The LAPD had never before encountered men with automatic weapons like this, protected by body armor. But most were from .38 revolvers or 9 mm pistols pitted against an arsenal of high-capacity AK-47s and automatic rifles. believing he might be a suspect from the robbery less . READ ALSO | LAPD Chief Michel Moore looks back at 1997 NoHo bank robbery, San Bernardino County deputies to begin wearing body cameras, New Topgolf facility opens next to Montebello Golf Course, Snowfall reaches 15 feet in some areas of Yosemite National Park. 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