ORDERED TO DROP SHOTGUN, REFUSED TO COMPLY, DROPPED BY COPS

Plan to rob bank gets off to bad start; robber doesn’t even get past the parking lot

If this guy was planning to rob that bank in Pearland, Texas, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He parks his car across the street from the bank, gets out dressed all in black and masked, walks across the street carrying a shotgun, crosses the bank parking lot and is confronted outside the bank by an off-duty cop and cops from the nearby main cop shop.

SHOTGUN-TOTING ROBBERY SUSPECT SHOT OUTSIDE PEARLAND BANK
By Kristi Nix

yourpearlandnews.com
August 17, 2012

An alleged bank robber armed with a shotgun was shot twice by police officers outside a west Pearland bank Friday (August 19).

Police say they received a call around 1:30 p.m. from someone reporting there was a man carrying a shotgun in the parking lot outside the Capital One Bank located at 7199 West Broadway. Although detectives still aren’t certain, it is believed the suspect may have called police himself and attempted to ambush officers when they arrived on the scene.

The suspect was reportedly wearing a black mask, black clothing and what appeared to be body armor. The man was also carrying a shotgun.

The bank was less than a mile from Pearland Police headquarters and three uniformed officers were able to arrive within minutes of the call. As the officers approached the bank, the suspect allegedly jumped out and at pointed the gun at police.

One of the officers called out “Put down your weapon.”

When the suspect failed to comply, one of the officers reportedly fired on the man, hitting him once in the thigh and once in the lower torso.

Pearland Police spokesman Lt. Onesimo Lopez was one of the first officers on the scene following the shooting.

“When I got here he was laying on the ground and in a lot of pain,” Lopez said when interviewed by The Journal. “I knelt beside the suspect and talked with him until the Life flight crew arrived to take him to the hospital. He told me his name was Eduardo and that he had come to the bank alone.”

Lopez said the man’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic man in his 20’s around five-foot-eight.

“He was wearing what appeared to be body armor, but when I was able to check more closely I saw it was a tactical vest.”

Detectives reportedly found shotgun shells in the pockets of the vest.

“The suspect did not enter the bank,” Lopez said. “The employees inside were not aware that anything was going on until they heard gun shots.”