The Associated Press
EL MONTE, Calif.- A suspected bank robber was shot and killed by deputies after a 3 1/2 hour standoff in home where he threatened two hostages on Wednesday, authorities said.
FBI and Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators were able to track the man down after he dropped his wallet Monday during a bank robbery in nearby Rosemead, said Deputy Richard Pena.
The unidentified man, who was suspected of robbing 13 banks in Southern California, was in the house with his girlfriend and her infant daughter when authorities surrounded it, Pena said.
When detectives confronted the man and tried to talk him out, he refused and warned that he was armed with a gun and “would not let the hostages leave alive,” Pena said.
A SWAT team was called to the scene and authorities locked down three nearby schools and evacuated residents of this suburb 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
“When it was determined that he was an imminent threat, the marksmen were given the OK to fire if they had the chance,” Pena said. “When the suspect went to a rear window, one of the long rifles shot him.”
The man’s girlfriend and her child escaped without injury, and deputies recovered a .45 caliber handgun in the house, Pena said.