Authorities in pursuit of 'Buckshot Bandits'

Police and FBI agents are searching for a team of shotgun-toting bank robbers dubbed “The Buckshot Bandits,” who are wanted in connection with at least four violent bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley, including two committed earlier today.

Police responded Friday to reports of the robberies committed within minutes of each other. The first occurred at 12:10 p.m. at a Citibank in the 22000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. The second was a half-hour later down the street at a U.S. Bank in the 17000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Encino.

The robbers — who witnesses described as two Latino men in their 20s — wore sunglasses, hats and casual clothes, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. They threatened customers individually, telling them to get on the floor, robbing at least one and pointing a gun at another’s head, Eimiller said.

At the first bank, the robbers displayed a device they said was a bomb and threatened to set it off if the tellers did not give them money, Eimiller said. At the second bank, they made similar threats, although they did not display a device, she said. No one was injured during either robbery, Eimiller said.

The robbers escaped with an unknown amount of cash and fled in a vehicle, escaping road blocks set up by police, FBI agents and California Highway Patrol officers, Eimiller said.

A Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad called to the scene used a robotic device to detonate the alleged bomb at the Citibank branch, according to police spokeswoman April Harding. Harding would not say whether the device contained explosives.

Investigators believe some of the same men used fake bombs to rob a U.S. Bank at 13071 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks on May 1 and First Bank in the 17000 block of Ventura Boulevard on May 29, Eimiller said.

Footage from the First Bank surveillance cameras shows two robbers who fit the description of the men who robbed the Citibank and U.S. Bank today, although they wore black and white shirts labeled “Security.” Surveillance footage from the May 1 robbery shows it was committed by a pair that included a man in his 50s, leading investigators to believe there may be a group at work, Eimiller said.

The bomb squad responded to both May robberies and detonated devices, which proved harmless, she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at (888) 226-8443.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Comments

[eb]

i was at jerry's across the street and could not get home!