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Police Kill Bank Robbery Suspect, Another in Custody Search continues for third robber

By  JIM IOVINO

Updated 8:25 PM EDT, Thu, Nov 20, 2008

Medics attend to a robbery suspect after an apparent shootout in Montgomery County. The suspect later died.

 

A bank robbery suspect was shot and killed and police are still searching for one other after an apparent shootout in Montgomery County.

Violent Bank Robbery Leads to Police Chase, Shootout

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A bank robbery suspect was shot and killed and police are still searching for at least one other after an apparent shootout in Montgomery County.

6 Schools Locked Down During Search for Robbers

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Six schools were locked down for most of the day while police searched the area for robbers believed to be armed and dangerous.

The incident started with the robbery of a Bank of America at about 9:15 a.m. in the 6300 block of Ten Oaks Road in the Clarksville area of Howard County. A female bank employee was shot in the hand during the robbery.

A citizen followed the three culprits' pickup truck and provided police with their location. The culprits then led police on a chase through three counties and ended up in the Greencastle Woods neighborhood in Silver Spring, Md., where they bailed out of the truck.

The apparent shootout occurred with at least one of the culprits near Ballinger and Wexhall drives, near the Briggs-Chaney auto park.  Police called the incident a "running gun battle."

One suspect fired at police, who returned fire, striking the suspect. He was taken to an area hospital where he died. A SWAT team and K-9 units were called to the area to search for two men considered to be armed and dangerous.

Several schools in the area took security measures. Paint Branch High School, Greencastle Elementary School, Briggs-Chaney Middle School,  Fairland Elementary School, Banneker Middle School and Burtonsville Elementary School were placed on Code Blue, which means there was an emergency near the school. Classes continued, but no one was allowed in or out of the schools.

Greencastle students were be kept inside the school until police allowed for their dismissal. Paint Branch and Banneker students were dismissed as usual except for students who live inside the search area. Those students were kept at their schools. Burtonsville, Fairland and Briggs Chaney students were dismissed as usual. Dismissed students who live outside the search area were taken to Banneker to meet their parents.

The search was relaxed at about 4 p.m. One suspect was taken into custody and the third man is not believed to be in the area anymore, police said.

The search area was bordered by Briggs Chaney Road, Old Columbia Pike and Greencastle Road. Residents in the area were told to lock their doors and stay inside, police said. Drivers were advised to avoid the area. Armed police searched all cars in the area.

Police recovered two handguns, including one from the deceased suspect.

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Comments (96)

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  • Flu-Bird Friday, Feb 27 at 11:50 AM FLAG COMMENT They made the mistake thinking they could rob from the public and live abetter life now one has a new pernimate presidence in the cematary and another will soon be getting a new residence in prison too bad they got foolish
  • LDB Thursday, Dec 11 at 11:40 PM FLAG COMMENT All of you people that say they should be locked up or killed are crazy. I would not wish death or jail on anyone. I personally knew the guy that got shot and I can say he was a very nice young man. He just got mixed up with the wrong people. He also looked like my favorite rapper, T.I. Rest in peace Omar you will be missed. Love ya.
  • Anonymous Thursday, Dec 11 at 11:22 PM FLAG COMMENT " The bank robber" that everyone is talking about has friends and family, who can't believe this happened. I will miss ur smile, voice, laugh, among many other things.... I'll never let u die R.I.P. T.I. Ms. Purrdy
  • Katrina Tuesday, Nov 25 at 3:25 PM FLAG COMMENT Were there security cameras in the bank? If not, why not? If so, why have we not yet seen pictures of the suspects?
  • PBHS Student Friday, Nov 21 at 1:33 PM FLAG COMMENT In my 7th period class we had a perfect view of the hellicopters landing in the small field by our school, it was really cool. When the code blue went into effect, I was just entering my 4th period class in the furthest portable from the school. We didn't know what was going on but heard several sirens and hellicopters. I still think it's a shame tha one managed to get away. After all the commotion from the entire event all of ... MORE >

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