Police in California shot and killed an attempted bank robber who claimed to have a bomb.
The incident occurred Tuesday at a Wells Fargo in a Fullerton shopping plaza around 5 p.m. A man wearing a mask walked into the bank carrying a white box with something resembling a weapon in it and told an employee he had an explosive device. He demanded money while threatening to detonate a bomb.
Employees and customers were evacuated while police arrived within minutes of the initial call.
The suspect then left the bank while still holding the box and was gunned down by police. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released. He was described as in his 70s, according to ABC 7 Los Angeles.
“Police had their guns drawn, and the door to the bank opened, and the [suspect] came out,” witness Jessica Serne told KTLA. “They said, ‘Drop!’ but he didn’t listen, so they shot him. One shot, and that was that.”
No other injuries were reported. No possible motive or other information was released.
The Orange County Sheriff Department’s Bomb Squad investigated the box and later determined the item inside was a facsimile of an explosive device.
Fullerton Police said the California Department of Justice would be investigating the police shooting since an unarmed civilian was killed.
