Phillips discarded it and rearmed himself with another assault rifle from the trunk of the sedan. The other location that proved advantageous for the LAPD was the backyard of 6641 Agnes Avenue. We have pea shooters compared to what these guys have.. His partner, Officer Dean Schram, saved his life by drawing returning fire. The police ordered both men to drop their weapons and surrender. Whos the doctor? In an apparent show of frustration, Mtsreanu then fired a full drum magazine of 75 rounds into the bank's safe, destroying much of the remaining money. The Argentine immigrant then sprinted to a nearby cleaners, where he pulled a woman to safety just as bullets shattered a window. Both robbers were killed, twelve police . [27], At the same approximate time, LAPD gunfire struck the Heckler & Koch rifle that Phillips was firing, rendering it inoperable with a penetration to the receiver. Phillips was shot nearly a dozen times. They gathered their automatic arsenal, including a Chinese-made AK-47 for Phillips, with a 70-round drum magazine, and a Bushmaster XM15 assault rifle for Matasareanu, with twin drums containing 100 rounds. 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 nation then watched the terror unfold on live TV as news helicopters broadcast the battle now known as the North Hollywood shootout. Its owner, Fred Abdo, was headed to work when he saw the bandits, in dark clothing and ski masks. [23][24][25][26], Two locations adjacent to the bank's north parking lot provided good cover for officers and detectives. "[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. It was a running gun battle through the streets of North Hollywood unlike any other the city had ever seen. and manufacturers. At 9:16a.m., Phillips and Mtsreanu entered and robbed Bank of America's North Hollywood branch. However, due to a change in the bank's delivery schedule, the vault contained significantly less than the $750,000 the gunmen had expected. Phillips walked down Archwood Street, continuing his gunbattle with police. The bullets then whizzed through Mr. Jiffys Pizza, narrowly missing a driver before bouncing off a warming oven. Arhivat din originalul de la 21 mai 2007. Armed with automatic weapons and body armor, two masked men robbed a North Hollywood bank Friday and then were killed trying to blast their way to freedom, spraying bullets into houses and. They had been in the bank for about seven minutes. 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 North Hollywood. The memorandum lists the injuries of all officers who received injuries at the hands of the robbers. After the North Hollywood Shootout. After Mtsreanu backed the Chevrolet Celebrity out of the handicapped space in the north parking lot, Phillips received a gunshot wound to his left wrist, based upon helicopter news footage that showed him react to pain. On that Friday morning, after months of planning two armed bank robbers entered and robbed the North Hollywood Bank of America branch in California. 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. Unlike so many other shootouts that start and end within a few . Realizing how badly they were outgunned, some of the officers got rifles at nearby gun stores. On Feb. 28, 1997, two men armed with fully automatic weapons and clad in heavy body armor did more than rob the Bank of America at 6600 Laurel Canyon Blvd. In less than one hour, Phillips and Matasareanu tried to kill 64 police officers and 18 innocent bystanders. At 9:17 a.m., they pulled up to the North Hollywood bank and synchronized their watches to account for an anticipated 8-minute LAPD response time once they entered. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. The service pistols carried by the first responding officers were of insufficient power and used the wrong type of ammunition for penetrating even pistol rated soft body armor. You must fight on.. Both men left the bank and took aim at the surrounding officers. During the standoff, frustrated police ran into the now-defunct B&B Gun Shop to grab high-powered weapons and ammo. [12] After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them, except for the confiscated firearms and explosives. 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. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. Forty-four minutes later, hundreds of rounds had been fired by the robbers carrying AK-47s and LAPD officers, most of whom were armed only with their handguns. [4][38][39], The two well-armored men had fired approximately 1,100 rounds, while approximately 650 rounds were fired by police. Phillips was shot nearly a dozen times. "It all comes back and it's kind of in you, just realizing if I had messed up somebody might not have a parent," Bellard said recalling the shootout as she stood next to the bank. There was no time to be scared. The robbers were armed with thousands of rounds of ammunition, custom fitted body armor and weapons altered to be fully automatic assault rifles. Without electricity, the house and party go quiet. By submitting your information, you agree to be contacted by the selected vendor(s) The robbers, clad in cut-up Kevlar, emptied their clips, sending hot rounds through concrete walls, iron fences, dozens of cars and through the walls of a nearby ice cream parlor and pizza joint. The officers called in for backup, which responded within minutes and surrounded the bank. Emil Dechebal Matasareanu, 30, was a scraggly haired, 283-pound native of Romania who suffered painful seizures after being struck in the head by a mental patient at his mothers home-operated day-care center. We put on these badges to help them. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. "We now have active shooter training, mass violence training," Moore said. The incident changed how policing is conducted, with officers now equipped with higher-caliber weapons. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. The cash was never found. After retrieving it, he placed the muzzle under his chin and fired. [4][5] Before meeting, Phillips was a habitual offender, responsible for multiple real estate scams and counts of shoplifting. and that the data you submit is exempt from Do Not Sell My Personal Information requests. The windows shattered. Copyright 2023 Police1. On the morning of February 28, 1997, two heavily armed men wearing body armor burst into a Bank of America branch, took a little more than $300,000 and fired their way out. The police radioed for an ambulance, but Mtsreanu, loudly swearing profusely and still goading the police to shoot him, died before the ambulance and EMTs were allowed to reach the scene almost 70 minutes later. 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. Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu opened fire on cops and bystanders after robbing a Bank of America in North Hollywood. After a bystander reported the robbery to authorities, responding officers were met with a barrage of gunfire from Phillips as he casually walked out of the bank and into the parking lot. Two seasoned bank and armored car robbersLarry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanuplanned to spend a few minutes in the bank to steal about $300,000. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. To come up with this timeframe, Phillips had used a radio scanner to monitor police transmissions prior to the robbery. The robbers allegedly filled a jam jar with gasoline and placed it in the back seat with the intention of setting the car and weapons on fire to destroy evidence after the robbery. While speaking with CNN in 2017, former LAPD SWAT officer Rick Massa said that the two robbers "had no care for life.". Ten officers and four citizens were wounded in the fighting, but no one other than the suspects died. As Phillips approached the passenger's side of the getaway vehicle, he was hit in the shoulder and his rifle was struck in the receiver and magazine by bullets fired by police. The North Hollywood shootout was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mtsreanu, and members of . The North Hollywood shootout, sometimes also called the Battle of North Hollywood, was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. 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. [30] Officers across the street continued to shoot Phillips' body several times while he was on the ground. Some SWAT members had been working out at the LAPD academy and arrived in gym shorts and bulletproof vests. I think its like a movie, said store manager Eim Tang. ", 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. At that point he pulled out his Berretta M9FS handgun to continue his shootout with the police. The two bank robbers, Larry Eugene Phillips Jr., 26, and Emil Matasareanu, 30, were killed. Coming from Duncan. Officers, who were mostly armed with then-LAPD standard-issue Beretta 92F/FS 9mm pistols, Smith & Wesson Model 15 .38 Special revolvers, and 12-gauge Ithaca Model 37 pump-action shotguns, continued to return fire at both robbers, but found quickly that their handguns and shotguns would not penetrate the body armor worn by Phillips and Mtsreanu. The distance between the position of Phillips hasty retreat from the Bank of America north parking lot and the position of the Telemundo 52 reporters is roughly 390feet. CNN. According to LAPD, at least 12 officers and two bystanders were injured. 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 . To work as a team, to move toward the threat and try to stop that threat as quickly as possible. One seriously wounded officer who later quit the force to become a minister said: I heard the devil; he told me: Youre gonna die, youre gonna die.. He shot himself in the head, but an autopsy report noted the coroner could not determine whether he or police fired the fatal shot. The pair, drawn together by a love of weight-lifting and weapons, had planned for months, assembling the body armor and reinforcing it over vital organs. 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. Haynes' patrol car. A comprehensive look at the 1997 North Hollywood Shootout detailing the lives and crimes of Larry Phillips Jr. and . 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. Uncut footage of the North Hollywood Bank Shootout From a News Helicopter. SWAT officers were in downtown Los Angeles, about 18 minutes away, at a training exercise. An LAPD car was riddled with bullets after coming under fire from a bank robber armed with a fully automatic assault rifle. Of their nearly 4,000 rounds of ammo, many were armor-piercing. The facts about the 1997 North Hollywood shootout are all nearly unbelievable, from the number of rounds fired during the siegeto the kind of weaponsthe assailants used. Emil Mtsreanu tried to surrender, but eventually died of trauma and blood loss. The Suspects And Police Fired Nearly 2,000 Rounds It's already staggering that nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition were fired in just 44 minutes, but what takes this over the top is that 1,100 of those rounds were fired by just two people: the perpetrators, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mtsreanu. Realizing how badly they were outgunned, some of the officers got rifles at nearby gun stores. 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. Forty-four minutes later, hundreds of rounds had been fired by the robbers carrying high-powered rifles and LAPD officers, most of whom were armed only with their handguns. As he was being cuffed, SWAT officers asked for his name, to which he replied "Pete". After a bystander reported the robbery to authorities, responding officers were met with a barrage of gunfire from Phillips as he casually walked out of the bank and into the parking lot. [43] Also as a result of this incident LAPD authorized its officers to carry .45 ACP caliber semi-automatic pistols as duty sidearms, specifically the Smith & Wesson Models 4506 and 4566. Several officers additionally equipped themselves with AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. They were armed with AR-15s, and wore running shoes and shorts under their body armor, as they had been on an exercise run when they received the call. Bobby Martinez: [shooting at Phillips] I'm hitting them, but they're not going down! In 1997, two bank robbers wearing body armour and wielding assault rifles attempted a heist at the Bank of America in North Hollywood before engaging in a lengthy gunfight with police, most of . Rather than asking a bank teller to put the money in a bag, the two men who destroyed a quiet town went on an all-out assault of the LAPD and did an untold amount of property damage before ending their lives in one of the most violent police altercations to ever occur on USsoil. The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. . Chapter 212 Violent crime, same game. In 2004, the Los Angeles Police Museum in Highland Park opened an exhibit featuring two life-size mannequins of Phillips and Mtsreanu fitted with similar armor and clothing they wore, and weaponry they used. And in a case of life imitating Hollywood, 14 months after the bank-robbing movie Heat, the shootout laid siege to North Hollywood. Military veterans quickly recognized the telltale blat of the Russian-designed AK-47 assault rifle. [8], On October 29, they were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, for operating a stolen vehicle. Now with $303,305 and three dye packs in their possession the two men egressed the building. In reality, this would be incredibly dangerous, not just from electrocution, but from arc flash. The SWAT team (Donnie Anderson, Steve Gomez, Peter Weireter, and Richard Massa) arrived 18 minutes after the shooting had begun. Several officers acquired five AR-15-style rifles from a nearby gun store to combat the robbers. Haynes and Officer Whitfield, who were both wounded and had only marginal cover behind trees across Laurel Canyon Blvd. [4] Another estimate is that a total of nearly 2,000 rounds were fired collectively. The High Incident Bandits' plan went belly-up the moment it began, thanks to the fact that they were spotted by two officers who were on a morning patrol and thought there was something fishy about two grown men wearing body armor,ski masks, and the arsenal of a small armywhile entering a bank. The gunmen fired at least 1,000 rounds at the police, who fired an estimated 1,000 or more right back at . Their robbery has since been named The North Hollywood shootout or The Battle of North Hollywood. One of the bank robbers in the Feb. 28, 1997 North Hollywood shootout fires at officers and bystanders. Reactions: USMCMP5811 and 7costanza. Plink plink. The robbers forced assistant manager John Villigrana to open the vault. NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Twenty-five years ago Monday, what became known as the North Hollywood shootout took place. An infuriated Phillips loosed a full 75-round drum of 7.62x39mm into the bank vault, destroying much of the remaining cash. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, If you need further help setting your homepage, check your browsers Help menu, Open the tools menu in your browser. Archived video from Feb. 28, 1997. The LAPD Museum has a pretty cool exhibit about the North Hollywood Bank robbery with all the same weapons, clothing, body armor, cars, etc. Archived footage from Feb. 28, 1997. All rights reserved, North Hollywood Shootout: Dramatic Images of the Bloody Gun Battle, North Hollywood Shootout: Officer Recalls Surviving Armor-Piercing Bullet Wounds. Zielenski was also able to use this position to draw Phillips' fire away from Sgt. "It did change the course of law enforcement across this country as we recognize that the proliferation of weapons and firearms and the sophistication of those firearms is only increasing, and is something, unfortunately, we continue to see to this day," Moore said. 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