Deadly bank robbery was 'like a war zone'
Three armed robbers wearing masks stormed into a South Side savings and loan Tuesday morning in one of the most violent Chicago holdups in recent memory -- killing a 23-year-old teller and wounding two others.
One of the gunmen disarmed a security guard, another hopped over the counter and a third stood guard at the front door about 9:30 a.m. at Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan, 8700 S. King Drive, police said.
Earl Coleman, another security guard in the bank, got into a shoot-out with the robbers. More than 25 shell casings were recovered from the bank, police said.
Coleman, 53, said he thought the robbers were wearing bulletproof vests. In an interview from his hospital bed, he insisted he did not fire the first shot.
Coleman said he could not continue the interview because of "excruciating pain" from bullet wounds to the chest and a leg. But he told Christine Lee, the mother of his two children, that he "emptied the gun" on the robbers and struck one of them in the back.
He told her he was at a copy machine when he heard a shot. He thought a teller was being shot at in the vault.
"I think he [the teller] told them he didn't know the combination to the vault," Lee said.
Then he fired at the robbers, Coleman told Lee.
A police source said Coleman probably fired the first shot, but other law enforcement officials were less certain.
"All we know for sure is that there was an exchange of gunfire between the guard that was shot and one of the offenders," FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said. "Who shot first is something we're still looking at."
Police also were not sure whether Coleman struck any of the robbers.
Also shot in the four-minute robbery were teller Tramaine Gibson, who died at Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as Dorothy Sanders, a 73-year-old grandmother and retired Brownell Elementary teacher who was doing business at the bank.
"She said she remembers hearing a boom and then feeling a burning sensation," said Sanders' son, Kevin.
She was in fair condition Tuesday night at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Coleman also was in fair condition there.
The FBI, Chicago Police and Cook County sheriff's officers were hunting for the suspects Tuesday night. The FBI posted a $50,000 reward for their capture.
May have hit 2nd bank May 10
The getaway car, a 1991 Oldsmobile, was recovered Tuesday afternoon near 67th and Wabash. A drawer from the bank was recovered inside the car, a source said.
The car belonged to a South Side woman who said the vehicle was stolen before 2 a.m. Tuesday. The woman was with investigators as they picked apart evidence from the car. She said she called police after a picture of the car was released Tuesday morning and she saw it on the news.
Officials believe the men also hit Cole Taylor Bank at 834 E. 63rd on May 10. There were three masked robbers in that holdup, too.
Tuesday's robbery rattled customers, many of whom used the bank for years.
"It sounded like a war zone in there,'' said a bank customer who was steps from the front door when he heard a burst of 15 to 20 shots, a pause and then 15 to 20 more shots. "They [were] shooting up in there.''
"This is a small institution in a big city. It's kind of like Mayberry,'' added customer Elliott Powell, 49, a lawyer and pastor who knows an employee who was in the bank during the holdup.
Lester Lindsey, 55, said he was walking into the bank on his way to jury duty. Lindsey said he heard between eight and nine shots. After seeing three gunmen in ski masks run out of the bank, he called 911.
Pilar Jones just dropped off her bank teller daughter, Jasmine Tate, 18, at the branch at 8:55 a.m. when she got an urgent phone call about 30 minutes later.
"She yelled into the phone, 'We've been robbed. A security guard has been shot. . . . And I can't get out of here,' " Jones said.
Her daughter was huddled in a back room. It was Tate's second day on the job. The Howard University undergrad, who wants to become a doctor, was not hurt in the robbery. Tate is the daughter of a Chicago Police officer, her mother said.
Three armed robbers wearing masks stormed into a South Side savings and loan Tuesday morning in one of the most violent Chicago holdups in recent memory -- killing a 23-year-old teller and wounding two others.
One of the gunmen disarmed a security guard, another hopped over the counter and a third stood guard at the front door about 9:30 a.m. at Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan, 8700 S. King Drive, police said.
Earl Coleman, another security guard in the bank, got into a shoot-out with the robbers. More than 25 shell casings were recovered from the bank, police said.
Coleman, 53, said he thought the robbers were wearing bulletproof vests. In an interview from his hospital bed, he insisted he did not fire the first shot.
Coleman said he could not continue the interview because of "excruciating pain" from bullet wounds to the chest and a leg. But he told Christine Lee, the mother of his two children, that he "emptied the gun" on the robbers and struck one of them in the back.
He told her he was at a copy machine when he heard a shot. He thought a teller was being shot at in the vault.
"I think he [the teller] told them he didn't know the combination to the vault," Lee said.
Then he fired at the robbers, Coleman told Lee.
A police source said Coleman probably fired the first shot, but other law enforcement officials were less certain.
"All we know for sure is that there was an exchange of gunfire between the guard that was shot and one of the offenders," FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said. "Who shot first is something we're still looking at."
Police also were not sure whether Coleman struck any of the robbers.
Also shot in the four-minute robbery were teller Tramaine Gibson, who died at Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as Dorothy Sanders, a 73-year-old grandmother and retired Brownell Elementary teacher who was doing business at the bank.
"She said she remembers hearing a boom and then feeling a burning sensation," said Sanders' son, Kevin.
She was in fair condition Tuesday night at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Coleman also was in fair condition there.
The FBI, Chicago Police and Cook County sheriff's officers were hunting for the suspects Tuesday night. The FBI posted a $50,000 reward for their capture.
May have hit 2nd bank May 10
The getaway car, a 1991 Oldsmobile, was recovered Tuesday afternoon near 67th and Wabash. A drawer from the bank was recovered inside the car, a source said.
The car belonged to a South Side woman who said the vehicle was stolen before 2 a.m. Tuesday. The woman was with investigators as they picked apart evidence from the car. She said she called police after a picture of the car was released Tuesday morning and she saw it on the news.
Officials believe the men also hit Cole Taylor Bank at 834 E. 63rd on May 10. There were three masked robbers in that holdup, too.
Tuesday's robbery rattled customers, many of whom used the bank for years.
"It sounded like a war zone in there,'' said a bank customer who was steps from the front door when he heard a burst of 15 to 20 shots, a pause and then 15 to 20 more shots. "They [were] shooting up in there.''
"This is a small institution in a big city. It's kind of like Mayberry,'' added customer Elliott Powell, 49, a lawyer and pastor who knows an employee who was in the bank during the holdup.
Lester Lindsey, 55, said he was walking into the bank on his way to jury duty. Lindsey said he heard between eight and nine shots. After seeing three gunmen in ski masks run out of the bank, he called 911.
Pilar Jones just dropped off her bank teller daughter, Jasmine Tate, 18, at the branch at 8:55 a.m. when she got an urgent phone call about 30 minutes later.
"She yelled into the phone, 'We've been robbed. A security guard has been shot. . . . And I can't get out of here,' " Jones said.
Her daughter was huddled in a back room. It was Tate's second day on the job. The Howard University undergrad, who wants to become a doctor, was not hurt in the robbery. Tate is the daughter of a Chicago Police officer, her mother said.
