-
May 22, 2007 11:44 pm US/Central
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Family Mourns Young Man Killed During Bank Robbery
FBI Offers $50,000 Reward For Information Leading To An Arrest
CBS 2's Mike Parker, Kris Hamberhmel, Alita Guillen, Joanie Lum, Dana Kozlov and Derrick Blakley contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A bank teller shot during a morning bank robbery on the South Side died Tuesday. Two other people were wounded in the robbery.
The teller, 23-year-old Tramaine Gibson was pronounced dead shortly after 1 p.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Police said he had been shot in the back.
Three robbers entered the Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan at 8700 S. King Drive at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday wearing masks with guns drawn and announced a robbery.
Authorities have issued a region-wide alert for the three armed robbers who police also believe may be wearing body armor. And that could be significant since a bank security guard who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire also believes he wounded one of the robbers.
"The offenders stormed the bank with one of the offenders disarming one of the security guards. The second offender jumps the teller's counter and the third offender stands guard at the front," said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Maria Maher.
Tramaine Gibson died after he was shot in the stomach during the bank robbery. His father, Verton Gibson, said Tramaine arrived at Mount Sinai hospital around 9:45 Tuesday morning without a pulse, was revived and fought for four hours to stay alive.
"I'm very angry. I'm angry at the way Tramaine passed away because he didn't deserve to die like that," Verton Gibson said.
Gibson said his son was currently enrolled at Wrightwood College, studying business. He began working for the bank three years ago at a branch at 46th Street and king drive. He was transferred to the bank on 87th Street a few months ago."
"He loved helping people, especially elderly people, and they loved Tramaine," Gibson said of his son. "They would let the person in back of them go just so he could wait on 'em."
Tuesday night Gibson's relatives and friends are trying to comfort the parents, three siblings, wife and two young children Tramaine suddenly and violently was forced to leave behind.
A second security guard exchanged gunfire with the robbers and was shot in the chest and leg. A male teller and a female customer were also shot.
The security guard, 53-year-old Earl Coleman, and the customer, 70-year-old Dorothy Sanders, a retired teacher, were both listed in fair condition and were recovering at Advocate Christ Medical Center Tuesday night.
Tuesday night, FBI agents continued to collect evidence inside Illinois Service Federal, where it took just four minutes for three masked robbers to disarm one security guard, wound another, kill a teller and terrify a community.
The three robbers escaped in a maroon, four-door sedan. The car is now being processed at the FBI's Near West Side headquarters, after being discovered near 66th Street and Wabash Avenue. And the FBI has issued a $50,000 reward for the robbers' capture.
"These individuals are extremely dangerous," said Frank Bochte of the FBI. "They shot three people for essentially no reason."
Employees Were "Absolutely Terrified"The concerned father of one bank employee said his daughter was "absolutely terrified" during the robbery. He even went to the scene to try to check on her.
The man said common sense helped his daughter survive, but she told him temptation almost got the better of her.
"She wanted to push the panic button, and one of the guys said if she moved again, you know, he was going to shoot her," he said.
As a precaution, the man's daughter was taken to a hospital. She was released a short time later.
Another young woman working inside the bank called her mother from her cell phone as the heist went down. "She yelled into her phone, 'We're being robbed and the security guard's been shot and I'm in a room and I can't get out,'" said the young woman's mother, Pilar Jones.
At that moment, Elliott Powell was at the bank's drive-through window. "The teller sent the transaction back and said, 'Mr. Powell, we're sorry but there's been a disturbance here, we can't take any transactions, we have to shut everything down," Powell said.
Guard May Have Shot One Of The RobbersColeman, who worked at the bank for 11 years, told his family that he might have wounded one of the robbers when he shot at them. He said he emptied his revolver at the robbers and might have hit one of them in the back.
"He did his job, he emptied that gun out on them and that's what he was supposed to do," said Coleman's friend Christine Lee. "We just pray. You know, pray for him and the other ones that got shot too."
In Chatham, customers hope the violence won't alter the folksy business style of this small, black-owned bank.
"We are a small bank and this has hit us very close to home," said bank CEO Norman Williams.
"It's your small-town bank in the big city," said customer Elliott Powell.
The violence was perhaps even more unsettling coming as it did at the little bank where everybody knows everybody.
Authorities May Have Located Getaway CarThe robbers fled the scene in a maroon four-door sedan with a temporary Illinois license plate, according to police. Authorities said the made off with a "small amount" of cash, but there were also unconfirmed reports they made off with as much as $100,000.
The FBI, meanwhile, was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. "We feel that the violence exhibited in this case was extremely cruel and that is the reason why the reward is being offered," FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said.
The FBI will conduct a thorough search of the vehicle for fingerprints and other evidence.
The local alderman was also expressing her outrage at the violent robbery on Tuesday. "People were hurt today. Families are shattered today. This is not TV, you're not Queen Latifah, this is real life," said Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th), in apparent reference to the 1996 bank robbery film "Set It Off."
Security cameras also captured the getaway and Bochte said the getaway car might have been recovered later Tuesday on the South Side.
Two nearby schools -- McDade Classical School at 8801 S. Indiana and Neil Elementary School at 8555 S. Michigan -- were temporarily placed on lockdown as a precaution while police searched the area for the suspects. The schools had been given the all-clear by 12:30 p.m.
As word about the robbery got out, many parents tried to call the schools but couldn't get through. One McDade parent said that when he was finally able to reach school officials, he was greatly relieved to learn the school was safe.
"The school told me everything is alright, the school is safe, they have FBI and ATF (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) inside the school, but the kids are just normal, they don't know anything about it, so that's good," Warren Roberts said.
After the lockdown ended, some parents took their children home early. Others decided it was best to proceed normally.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)