Covert Mission
New member
Apparently, the concept of self-preservation and defense is one that is alien to this guy. There have been numerous armorered car robberies in LA/SoCal where guards have been shot and sometimes killed dead, before resisting the robbers. Executed, in other words. Any armored car guard who doesn't assume that this is the likely threat, and waits for the BG's to act before responding, may not live to see another day. This guy needs a megadose of reality, imo.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The president of Costco stores questioned on Monday why an armored car guard exchanged shots with two robbers during a deadly gun battle that took place in an area filled with weekend shoppers.
The botched robbery on Sunday led to one shopper’s death. Three other shoppers wounded included a husband and wife in critical condition. An alleged robber also was wounded and later captured.
‘‘I don‘‘t want to pass judgment in the absence of facts,’’ Jim Sinegal, president and chief executive officer of Costco, said of the shootout in front of a San Fernando Valley store of the warehouse chain. ‘‘But obviously we have to investigate why this happened in a crowded and congested area.’’
About 30 shots were fired, including three from the guard’s 9-mm pistol, police said.
The wounded gunman was captured inside a getaway van, which had been rammed by the driver of the armored car. The van came to a halt a short distance from the store with a flat tire, police said. The second gunman and the van’s driver fled on foot, and were still being sought Monday.
Owen Alexander Wolf, 29, a television production assistant, died when he was shot in the head while walking toward the store’s entrance. Wolf, who lived in the valley’s Studio City section, was an aspiring screenwriter who had worked on the ‘‘Felicity’’ series and an upcoming television crime drama.
Kien Chau, 57, and his wife, Bachtuyett Tran, 51, were in critical condition Monday at San Fernando Valley hospitals. A fourth shopper, Vicky Cheung, 21, was treated for a minor gunshot wound and released.
The shooting began about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. A guard returning to the armored car from the store with a bag of receipts was approached by a man armed with an assault rifle, and the gunfire began.
A second gunman among customers in a food court outside the store also began shooting, as the guard held onto the bag and raced into the armored car for protection.
Store officials said Monday the bag’s contents were mostly checks and credit receipts.
It was not yet known who fired the first shot or whether bullets that hit the shoppers were fired by the suspects or the guard who worked for Pico Rivera-based Sectran Security Inc., said Los Angeles Police Detective Charles Stubbs. The identities of the guard and the armored car driver were still being withheld Monday.
The arrested suspect identified himself as Ramon Gutierrez, 38, of Tijuana, Mexico, said police who were checking fingerprints to confirm his name. They said Gutierrez was shot in the left leg, presumably by the guard. He was held at the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center.
The store reopened on schedule Monday at 10 a.m., said warehouse manager Kevin Green. The broken glass of car windows and windshields was gone and the blood of victims had been cleaned. The store offered counseling to employees and increased its own security.
An armed guard will be at the store ‘‘for the foreseeable future,’’ said Shawn Parks, operations vice president for Costco stores in Los Angeles County.
AP-WS-08-15-00 0300EDT
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The president of Costco stores questioned on Monday why an armored car guard exchanged shots with two robbers during a deadly gun battle that took place in an area filled with weekend shoppers.
The botched robbery on Sunday led to one shopper’s death. Three other shoppers wounded included a husband and wife in critical condition. An alleged robber also was wounded and later captured.
‘‘I don‘‘t want to pass judgment in the absence of facts,’’ Jim Sinegal, president and chief executive officer of Costco, said of the shootout in front of a San Fernando Valley store of the warehouse chain. ‘‘But obviously we have to investigate why this happened in a crowded and congested area.’’
About 30 shots were fired, including three from the guard’s 9-mm pistol, police said.
The wounded gunman was captured inside a getaway van, which had been rammed by the driver of the armored car. The van came to a halt a short distance from the store with a flat tire, police said. The second gunman and the van’s driver fled on foot, and were still being sought Monday.
Owen Alexander Wolf, 29, a television production assistant, died when he was shot in the head while walking toward the store’s entrance. Wolf, who lived in the valley’s Studio City section, was an aspiring screenwriter who had worked on the ‘‘Felicity’’ series and an upcoming television crime drama.
Kien Chau, 57, and his wife, Bachtuyett Tran, 51, were in critical condition Monday at San Fernando Valley hospitals. A fourth shopper, Vicky Cheung, 21, was treated for a minor gunshot wound and released.
The shooting began about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. A guard returning to the armored car from the store with a bag of receipts was approached by a man armed with an assault rifle, and the gunfire began.
A second gunman among customers in a food court outside the store also began shooting, as the guard held onto the bag and raced into the armored car for protection.
Store officials said Monday the bag’s contents were mostly checks and credit receipts.
It was not yet known who fired the first shot or whether bullets that hit the shoppers were fired by the suspects or the guard who worked for Pico Rivera-based Sectran Security Inc., said Los Angeles Police Detective Charles Stubbs. The identities of the guard and the armored car driver were still being withheld Monday.
The arrested suspect identified himself as Ramon Gutierrez, 38, of Tijuana, Mexico, said police who were checking fingerprints to confirm his name. They said Gutierrez was shot in the left leg, presumably by the guard. He was held at the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center.
The store reopened on schedule Monday at 10 a.m., said warehouse manager Kevin Green. The broken glass of car windows and windshields was gone and the blood of victims had been cleaned. The store offered counseling to employees and increased its own security.
An armed guard will be at the store ‘‘for the foreseeable future,’’ said Shawn Parks, operations vice president for Costco stores in Los Angeles County.
AP-WS-08-15-00 0300EDT