On this day 25 years ago, two men attempted to rob a Bank of America in North Hollywood, California, and the incident is still considered one of the most violent shootouts in policing history. The responding officers were carrying only pistols. [46], The year following the shootout, 18 officers of the LAPD received the departmental Medal of Valor for their actions,[47] and met President Bill Clinton. interacts online and researches product purchases The dye packs later exploded, ruining what money they did get. . Director Yves Simoneau Writer Tim Metcalfe Stars Michael Madsen The Robbery At 9:17am the two robbers arrived at the bank and set their watch alarms for 8 minutes. [32] The suit was later dropped when Mtsreanu's family agreed to dismiss the action with a waiver of malicious prosecution. RELATED: LAPD Chief Michel Moore looks back at 1997 NoHo bank robbery. They entered the Bank of America at. Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mtsreanu had been planning a robbery of the Bank of America in North Hollywood for months after meeting at a gym. The ambulance driver testified he believed he was in danger by being in the area. When the shell casings stopped rolling, two bandits lay dead one after shooting himself after sustaining 10 gunshot wounds and the other after bleeding to death from 29 gunshots after telling police, F--- you. Archived footage from Feb. 28, 1997. [35][36] By the time the shooting had stopped, Phillips and Mtsreanu had fired about 1,100 rounds, approximately a round every two seconds. [28], After LAPD radio operators received the second "officer down" call from police at the shootout, a tactical alert was issued. The North Hollywood shootout is still vivid for those who suffered through it, and it has become part of the cultural lore of Los Angeles. Two masked robbers armed Three hundred thousand dollars were stolen from the hands of bank employees and 36 customers, and while they were committing crimes, passing citizens noticed the . Events unfolded after attempted robbery at the Bank of America branch in North Hollywood. Commonly known as the North Hollywood Bank of America Shootout, the incident quickly appeared on news channels throughout the nation as the drama unfolded," the Los Angeles Police Department said in 2010. Rehder and Dillow, pp. Watch 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out 2003 full Movie free, download 44 minutes: the north hollywood shoot-out 2003. But we all have families to go home to.. The two robbers entered the bank, ordered everyone to get on the floor, and opened fire into the ceiling to dissuade resistance. They didn't care," Massa told CNN. The gun battle lasted 44 minutes. SWAT members started shooting below the car and hit Mtsreanus unprotected legs. Family of robber killed in L.A. shootout sues". Phillips also fired at an LAPD helicopter flown by Charles D. Perriguey Jr. as it surveyed the scene from above, forcing it to withdraw to a safer distance. Phillips and Matasareanu were able to obtain a little over $300,000 from the bank, but as they were about to leave, they were met by dozens of police officers. In less than one hour, Phillips and Matasareanu tried to kill 64 police officers and 18 innocent bystanders - all of it happening on live television. [33], Most of the incident, including the death of Phillips and surrender of Mtsreanu, was broadcast live by news helicopters, which hovered over the scene and televised the action as events unfolded. All rights reserved. With such an overwhelming number of shotsfired, it's amazing to think that there were only two fatalities. Its owner, Fred Abdo, was headed to work when he saw the bandits, in dark clothing and ski masks. 9:17 a.m. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. Before leaving, the robbers locked the hostages in the bank vault. [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. (Gene Blevins/Los Angeles Daily News)For the dozens of officers called to respond to the bank robbery in North Hollywood 15 years ago, it was like looking into the face of hell. In "True Crime: The North Hollywood Shootout 25 Years Later," we take a look back at the chaos that unfolded on that day. On the morning of the robbery, officials believe they took phenobarbital to help control their nerves. From the Archives: The 1997 North Hollywood Shootout On Feb. 28, 1997, two heavily armed bank robbers in body armor exchanged a storm of gunfire with Los Angeles police on the streets of. You fall back on your training the best in the world, recalled Zboravan, an award-winning sergeant now serving as an assistant watch commander at Northeast Division. The real-life gunbattle then inspired made-for-TV documentaries and movies. In "True Crime: The North. One witness described the weaponry as "army machinery." It is considered amongst one of the bloodiest shootouts in the history of the United States police force. February 28, 1997, Los Angeles, California After a botched robbery at a Bank of America branch in North Hollywood, two robbers armed with fully automatic assault rifles and wearing full body armor fired more than 1,100 rounds as they battled police. [4], On April 17, 1997, police raided a house in Anaheim traced to Phillips and Mtsreanu. [44], On June 12, 1998, LAPD Chief of Police Bernard C. Parks released to the Board of Police Commissioners a memorandum detailing his review of officers' use of force during the February 28, 1997 North Hollywood shootout. 1997 bank robbery and subsequent shootout between bank robbers and police, This article is about the real-life incident. The lawsuit was tried in United States District Court in February and March 2000, and ended in a mistrial with a hung jury. They arrived at the bank at 9:17 AM. Thousands of rounds were fired as two heavily armed bank robbers were confronted by LAPD officers in the streets of the San Fernando Valley. It's the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for law enforcement agencies and police departments worldwide. Of their nearly 4,000 rounds of ammo, many were armor-piercing. "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. LOS ANGELES LAPD Officer James Zboravan was two months and eight days out of the police academy when he faced a barrage of machine-gun fire, shot and wounded a bank robber and dove across unarmored officers to shield them with his bulletproof vest. [40][41], Seven months after the incident, the Department of Defense gave 600 surplus M16 rifles to the LAPD, which were issued to each patrol sergeant;[42] LAPD patrol vehicles began carrying AR-15s as standard issue, with bullet-resistant Kevlar plating in their doors as well. On February 28th, 1997, the sound of automatic gunfire filled the streets of North Hollywood as LAPD officers engaged in a firefight with two bank robbers. Phillips and Mtsreanudidnt know it, but they would change the face of America forever with the final 44 minutes of their lives. You must fight on.. One of the most violent days in LAPD history unfolded on live television on Feb. 28, 1997 when two bank robbers wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles engaged in a ferocious gunfight with officers on the streets of North Hollywood. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). Shoot me in the head! No officers or bystanders were killed in. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. Matasareanu, shot twice in the bank parking lot, took cover in a getaway car and slowly drove toward Phillips, who continued walking and shooting. The bullets then whizzed through Mr. Jiffys Pizza, narrowly missing a driver before bouncing off a warming oven. One particular firearma short-barreled AR-15 with an aftermarket red dot sightwas later released from evidence for use by a law enforcement agency. At the end of that fateful day there were no fatalities except the robbers, though 18 people were injured in the assault. 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