THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310556
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELLE CROUCH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 50 lines
Two men armed with assault weapons and a handgun riddled a bank with gunfire during a holdup as it opened Thursday, killing a teller and wounding three people, police said.
The men opened fire as they burst through the rear door of a NationsBank branch on Williamsburg Road on the city's east side around 9 a.m., said police Detective Fred Russell.
A security guard who fired at the men was shot and wounded. The robbers tried to leave through the rear door, but exchanged gunfire with a police officer summoned by a passerby. The robbers ran back into the bank, firing indiscriminately and hitting three more people, and ran out the front door, Russell said.
The men crossed a street, scrambled over a 5 1/2-foot stone fence surrounding the Richmond National Cemetery and fled through the rows of white headstones of Civil War soldiers. They hopped another fence on the opposite side of the cemetery, ran into a neighborhood and drove away in a charcoal gray Chevrolet Nova, Russell said.
A police officer who chased the men took cover when they fired at him.
Police wouldn't release how much money was taken.
Four of the five people inside the bank were shot, police said. Lori A. Robinson, 23, died of a gunshot wound to her chest, police said.
One customer and another employee were wounded. All of the injured were taken to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, but none of their wounds were life-threatening, Russell said.
Detectives found an undetermined amount of cash, a gray hat and a can of lighter fluid the thieves apparently dropped as they cleared the stone wall, police said. Investigators did not know why the lighter fluid was used.
At least 25 FBI agents joined the investigation, said FBI special agent Stan Kline. He said the robbers had planned the holdup.
``This job was cased. They knew what they were doing in there. This kind of violence is not typical of anything I've seen since I've been here,'' said Kline, who has worked in Richmond for four years. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS
Officials investigate Thursday's robbery at a NationsBank branch in
Richmond by two men armed with assault weapons and a handgun.
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING MURDER BANK ROBBERY