By Candace Smith, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A would-be robber was shot and wounded by an armored car guard Wednesday at a bank two blocks north of the White House, police said.
A Dunbar Armored Car truck parked in front of a Chevy Chase Bank branch on 15th Street near I Street in downtown Washington, and one of the guards went inside to deliver cash.
“Once inside the bank he was confronted with an individual armed with a shotgun,” said District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Commander Tom McGuire.
But the guard turned the tables and shot the man in the leg. A scuffle followed, spilling out onto the sidewalk, where the shotgun was lying hours after the incident.
Witness Maria Perez was in a park across the street on a sunny day with temperatures in the 60s.
“I heard the first shot, looked up and saw the (bank) door being opened, the robber running out and the security guard behind him,” Perez said. The suspect later fell to the sidewalk, with the guard standing over him.
“People in the park hit the ground” at the sound of gunshots, Perez said.
The suspect was taken to George Washington University Hospital with non-life-threatening wounds. Police said he would at least be charged with robbery. Other charges were pending. Both MPD and the FBI were investigating what one official said was a rare crime in the neighborhood.
“It’s a little out of the norm to try and rob a bank in an area like this,” said McGuire.