FULLERTON, Calif. – Law enforcement authorities in Southern California said a bank robbery suspect threatened to detonate a bomb and was fatally shot by police as he exited the business on Tuesday.
The drama unfolded in Orange County when officers with the Fullerton Police Department responded to the Wells Fargo bank in the 100 block of W. Bastanchury Rd. about 5:10 p.m. regarding a robbery in progress, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
Fullerton police officials said a man entered the bank wearing a mask and demanded money from the teller, adding that he held a device and claimed it was a bomb.
Sgt. Ryan O’Neil said people inside the bank told police the man “produced what appeared to be an explosive device.”
After officers arrived on scene, the suspect exited the bank while carrying the device. He failed to comply with police commands and was neutralized by a single gunshot fired by law enforcement personnel. The unnamed man in his 70s was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witness Jennifer Serna said, “With their guns drawn, and then the door to the bank opened, and the guy came out. And they said, ‘drop.’ And then he didn’t listen, so they shot him.”
“One shot and then that was that,” Serna confirmed.
Video footage from the FOX 11-SkyFOX helicopter showed a SWAT BearCat and robot operating outside the Wells Fargo branch during the dramatic incident.
Investigators said the bank was still open and employees and another customer were inside at the time of the robbery. Police safely evacuated everyone and no one else was injured.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad also responded to the scene due to the suspicious item carried by the decedent. It was later determined to be a facsimile of an explosive device.
