| North Hollywood shootout | |
|---|---|
Larry Phillips, Jr. (left) and Emil Mătăsăreanu (right) engaged LAPD officers in a firefight after robbing a branch of Bank of America. |
|
| Location | North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., |
| Date | February 28, 1997 9:17 a.m. – 10:01 a.m. (UTC-8) |
| Target | A branch of Bank of America. |
| Attack type | Bank robbery |
| Deaths | 2: both Mătăsăreanu (shot) and Phillips (self-inflicted gunshot wound) |
| Injured | 18[1] |
| Perpetrator(s) | Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. Emil Decebal Mătăsăreanu |
The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both perpetrators were killed, eleven police officers and seven civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the perpetrators and the police.
At approximately 9:30 am (UTC-8), Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered and robbed the North Hollywood Bank of America branch. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were confronted by dozens of LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The two robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway vehicle, while continuing to engage the officers. The shootout continued onto a residential street adjacent to the bank until Phillips was mortally wounded, including by a self-inflicted gunshot wound; Mătăsăreanu was killed by officers three blocks away. In addition to the two perpetrators, eleven officers and seven civilians sustained injuries.[2] Phillips and Mătăsăreanu are believed to have robbed two other banks using virtually identical methods (such as taking control of the entire bank, as well as firing automatic weapons for control and entry past 'bullet-proof' security doors) in the previous year, and are possible suspects in two armored vehicle robberies prior to their attempt in North Hollywood. [3]
Local patrol officers at the time were typically armed with 9 mm or .38 Special pistols on their person, with some having a 12-gauge shotgun available in their cars. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu carried fully automatic rifles, with ammunition capable of penetrating police body armor, and wore military grade body armor of their own. Since the police handguns could not penetrate the bank robbers' body armor, the patrol officers' efforts were ineffective. SWAT eventually arrived with weapons that could penetrate and several officers also appropriated AR-15 rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the appropriate firepower for patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.
Due to the large number of casualties, rounds fired, weapons used and overall length of the shootout, it is regarded as the longest and bloodiest event in US police history.[4] This incident would later lead to California enforcing a highly strict law on firearms, including the controversial "10-round magazine-only" law for firearms bought in the state by residents.
Contents |
Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. (born September 20, 1970) and Emil Decebal Mătăsăreanu (born July 19, 1966) first met at Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California in 1989. They had a mutual interest in weightlifting and bodybuilding. Phillips imported steel-core ammunition for his illegally modified assault rifles, and acquired Aramid body armor.[5]
On July 20, 1993 the pair robbed an armored car outside of a branch of FirstBank in Littleton, Colorado.[6]
In October 1993, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, California, for speeding.[7] A subsequent search of their vehicle—after Phillips surrendered with a concealed weapon—found two semi-automatic rifles, two handguns, more than 1,600 rounds of 7.62x39 mm rifle ammunition, 1,200 rounds of 9x19 mm Parabellum and .45 ACP handgun ammunition, radio scanners, smoke bombs, improvised explosive devices, body armor vests, and three different California license plates.[8] Initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery,[9] both served 100 days in jail and were placed on three years' probation.[10] After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them.[11]
On June 14, 1995, the pair ambushed a Brinks armored car, killing one guard, Herman Cook, in the robbery. In May 1996, they robbed two branches of Bank of America in San Fernando, stealing approximately US$1.5 million.[12] Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were dubbed the "High Incident Bandits" by investigators due to the heavy weaponry they had used in three robberies prior to their attempt in North Hollywood.[13]
On the morning of Feb. 28, 1997, after months of preparation, including extensive reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Mătăsăreanu loaded five rifles and approximately 3,300 rounds of ammunition in box and drum magazines into the trunk of their vehicle: two modified Romanian AIM assault rifles, an AK-47 style rifle, and one modified Norinco Type 56 S-1, a semi automatic HK91 and a modified Bushmaster XM15 E2S. Phillips carried one 9mm Beretta Model 92F INOX.[14] They wore their 18 kilogram (40 pounds) full-suit body armor, which Phillips had stitched together, as well as metal trauma plates to protect vital organs, and they took phenobarbital to calm their nerves.[15]
Phillips and Mătăsăreanu, driving a white Chevrolet Celebrity, arrived at the Bank of America branch office at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:30 a.m., and set their watch alarms for eight minutes, which was the length of time they estimated it would take law enforcement officials to respond. Phillips had been using a radio scanner to listen to police transmissions to determine this timeframe.[15] However, as they walked into the bank, they were spotted by officers Loren Farrell and Martin Perello in an LAPD patrol car driving down Laurel Canyon, and Officer Perello radioed in, "15-A-43, requesting assistance, we have a possible 211 in progress at the Bank of America." 211 is the code for an armed robbery.[16]
Inside the bank, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu forced a customer who was leaving the ATM lobby outside into the bank and onto the floor. A security guard inside saw the scuffle and the robbers and radioed his partner in the parking lot to call the police; the call was not received. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu opened fire into the ceiling to scare the approximately 30 bank staff and customers[2] and to discourage resistance.[17] After shooting open a "bulletproof" door that gained access to the tellers and vault, they forced assistant manager John Villigrana to open the vault, all of this after firing at least 150 rounds into the ceiling and door. After Villigrana opened the vault and filled the robbers' money bag, Mătăsăreanu, enraged at the fact that only small amounts of money were in the safe, argued with Villigrana, demanding more. In another burst of anger, Mătăsăreanu reportedly fired a full box magazine into the bank's safe, destroying the rest of the money. They were only able to get $303,305, instead of the expected $750,000 because the bank had altered the delivery schedule.[13]
Meanwhile, Officer Perello called in on his radio, "Bank of America, Laurel Canyon, north of Kittridge, we have shots fired," and moments later, "15-A-43, Officer needs help, B of A!"
At 9:38 a.m., after several units of LAPD officers and detectives arrived responding to the call, Phillips exited the bank through its north doorway and Mătăsăreanu through its south doorway. Both encountered dozens of LAPD patrol officers, who had arrived after the first-responding officers radioed a "shots fired" call.[18] Television news helicopters responding to the "shots fired" LAPD dispatch arrived minutes later, and, despite being shot at by the gunmen, broadcast throughout. SWAT commanders used the live helicopter broadcasts to pass critical, time-sensitive information to the officers on the scene.
Phillips and Mătăsăreanu engaged the officers, firing armor-piercing rounds into the patrol cars that had been positioned on Laurel Canyon in front of the bank.[14] The patrol officers were armed with standard Beretta 92F and Beretta 92FS 9mm pistols and Smith & Wesson Model 15 .38 caliber revolvers, Officer James Zaboravan also carried a 12-gauge Ithaca Model 37 pump-action shotgun, but the body armor worn by Phillips and Mătăsăreanu was strong enough to resist penetration.[13] Multiple officers and civilians were wounded in the seven to eight minutes from when the shooting began to when Mătăsăreanu entered the robbers' white sedan to make a getaway; Phillips remained outside the vehicle and continued firing on officers and helicopters with the HK91, possibly providing covering fire for Mătăsăreanu and using the car for cover. Footage shows that a police officer's bullet almost struck Phillips in the upper body at that point, however he quickly ducked behind the car, dodging it. Phillips fired at least 50 to 100 rounds from the HK91. After a couple of minutes he reslung it and switched back to the AKM.[13] A tactical alert was issued, and 18 minutes after the shooting had begun, a SWAT team armed with MP-5s and AR-15s arrived. They had just started an exercise run when they received the call and had no time to change, and were thus wearing running shoes and shorts under their body armor. Officers then commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging battle scene.[13]
At 9:52 Phillips, who had been using the getaway vehicle as cover, split from Mătăsăreanu, turned east on Archwood Street, took cover behind a parked truck, and continued to fire at the police with his AKM.[19] He reloaded the assault rifle with a 75-round drum magazine, but the gun suffered a malfunction. He promptly discarded the AKM rather than removing the shell casing that had caused the "stovepipe" malfunction as his wrist was injured from a gunshot that had penetrated his wrist bone, after it deflected off the gun's casing and through his thumb.[13] He drew a Beretta 92FS pistol and continued firing at police. He was then shot in the right hand again, briefly dropped the pistol, retrieved it, and placed the muzzle of his pistol under his chin and shot himself. After the firing stopped, officers in the area surrounded Phillips, stripped him of his armor and cuffed him. The police used a sheet to bandage his shoulder, which was bleeding profusely from an AR-15 round, [20] unaware that Phillips had already died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Mătăsăreanu's vehicle was rendered nearly inoperable after its tires were shot out.[13] At 9:56 he attempted to carjack a pickup truck on Archwood, three blocks east of where Phillips died, and transferred all of his weapons and ammunition from the getaway car to the truck.[21] However, Mătăsăreanu was unable to start the truck, possibly due to a fuel pump switch needing to be manually activated in the older vehicle.[22] As KCBS and KCAL helicopters hovered overhead, a patrol car driven by SWAT officers quickly arrived. Mătăsăreanu left the truck, took cover behind the original getaway car, and engaged them in a six-minute gun battle. At least one SWAT officer fired his M16 rifle below the cars and wounded Mătăsăreanu in his unprotected lower legs; he was soon unable to continue and desperately put his hands up twice to show surrender.[13] The police radioed for an ambulance, but Mătăsăreanu, cursing, died before the ambulance reached the scene almost seventy minutes later. Later reports showed that Mătăsăreanu was shot 29 times in the shins and feet and died from trauma due to loss of blood.[23]
Most of the incident, including the death of Phillips and the capture of Mătăsăreanu, was broadcast live by news helicopters, which hovered over the scene and televised the action as events unfolded.[14] Over 300 law enforcement officers from various forces had responded to the city-wide TAC alert.[24] By the time the shooting had stopped, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu had fired about 1,300 rounds, approximately a round every 2 seconds.[13]
Mătăsăreanu and Phillips obtained ammunition and weapons through illegal methods. These methods consist of black-market: AR-15 converted to fire automatically, a semiautomatic HK-91, two Chinese Ak-47s', and 7.62x39 cartridges.[25][26][13] The robbers were protected by body armor which could not be penetrated by the officers' handgun and shotgun ammunition. While Phillips was shot in the hand and shortly afterward committed suicide, a SWAT officer reported during the final gunfire exchange that his M16 bullets were not penetrating Mătăsăreanu's armor (as he was firing frangible ammunition) suggesting that the outcome could have been different had both robbers been wearing leg protection.[13]
The ineffectiveness of the pistol rounds and shotgun pellets in penetrating the robbers' body armor led to a trend in the United States toward arming selected police patrol officers with semi-automatic 5.56 mm AR-15 type rifles.[13] Seven months after the incident, the Department of Defense gave 600 surplus M16s to the LAPD, which were issued to each patrol sergeant;[27] other cities, such as Miami, also moved to supply patrol officers, not just SWAT teams, with heavier firepower.[28] LAPD patrol vehicles now carry AR-15s as standard issue, with bullet-resistant Kevlar plating in their doors as well.[29] Also as a result of this incident LAPD authorized its officers to carry .45 ACP caliber semiautomatic pistols as duty sidearms, specifically the Smith and Wesson Models 4506 and 4566. Prior to 1997 only LAPD SWAT officers were authorized to carry .45 ACP caliber pistols, specifically the Model 1911A1 .45 ACP semiautomatic pistol.
In this case, approximately 650 rounds were fired at two very heavily armored men, who had fired approximately 1,100 rounds.[2] The responding police officers directed their fire at the "center of mass," or torsos, of Mătăsăreanu and Phillips. Each man was shot and penetrated by at least ten bullets, yet both continued to attack officers.
The LAPD did not allow Mătăsăreanu to receive medical attention, stating that ambulance personnel were following standard procedure in hostile situations by refusing to enter "the hot zone," as Mătăsăreanu was still considered to be dangerous.[13] Some reports indicate that he was lying on the pavement with no weapons for approximately an hour before ambulances arrived.[30] A lawsuit on behalf of Mătăsăreanu's offspring was filed against members of the LAPD, claiming that Mătăsăreanu's civil rights had been violated and that he was allowed to bleed to death.[31] The lawsuit was tried in United States District Court in February and March 2000, and ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked.[32] The suit was later dropped when Mătăsăreanu's family agreed to dismiss the action with a waiver of malicious prosecution.[33]
The year following the shootout, 19 officers of the LAPD received the departmental Medal of Valor for their actions,[34] and met President Bill Clinton.[35] In 2003, a film about the incident was produced, titled 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out. In 2004, the Los Angeles Police Department Museum opened an exhibit featuring two life-size mannequins of Phillips and Mătăsăreanu fitted with the armor they wore and the weaponry they used.[36]
The getaway vehicle and some of the LAPD patrol cars involved in the shootout are now on display at the Los Angeles Police Historical Society Museum in Highland Park.