shewasavisitor

Do you remember the North Hollywood Shoot-Out?

This morning, we had a plan: hop on our bikes and visit Bank of America’s North Hollywood branch. We’re no crime junkies, but this story is just so interesting AND it all happened 20 minutes away!

Here’s the story:
Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu are pals who met at a gym. They shared a passion for the illegal modification of AK-47s and homemade body armour. Together, they robbed 3 banks and one Brinks truck before spending months scrutinizing their NoHo attempt, which went down February 28th 1997. The special thing about this robbery is that the pair were so heavily armed with their own specially-made ceramic body armour (3 bowling balls in weight!) that they couldn’t be taken down by conventional police weapons. The two guys were absolutely loaded with guns specially modified with armour-piercing ammunition which means they could shoot through police’s body vests, but their own vests were impenetrable. It got to the point where police had to run to nearby gun stores to buy better guns! In the end, SWAT forces were called upon.

9:17am – Enter bank, demand money.

9:38am – Cops enter the scene. Emil drives out of the parking lot while Larry walks beside the car, shooting at the cops.

9:51am – Larry splits from Emil at the corner and fires repeatedly at police while walking along a wall. He’s shot in the thumb, and therefore has major problems re-loading his gun.

Larry ends up killing himself by shooting himself in the face – speculated an accidental suicide as he was dexterously impaired.

Emil proceeds to drive down the sleepy neighbourhood streets of NoHo with cops shooting from every angle.

9:56am – Emil’s car tires are now totally flat, so he tries to steal a pickup truck without the proper ignition key. By this time, SWAT officers were shooting beneath the cars at Emil’s feet with M16s and Emil succumbed to the pain and collapsed. Cops did not call the aid of ambulances for 45 minutes as the scene was deemed too dangerous. Emil bled to death.

By the time the shooting had ceased, 1,300 rounds of ammo were shot by Larry and Emil.

Most American police officers now carry better guns because of this crime, and police cars are now re-enforced with Kevlar doors.
19 LAPD officers received Medals of Valor for their efforts in the NoHo Shoot-Out, which was the biggest shoot-out in California’s history. Here’s the Wikipedia entry. There’s also a movie, 44 Minutes. Check it out.