3 dead after California bank robbery suspects take hostages, lead cops on chase

Two suspects in a bank robbery and one of their hostages were killed Wednesday after a car chase that ended in a gun battle in the central California city of Stockton.

The violence began at 2 p.m. local time when officers responded to a call of a robbery at a Bank of the West branch in north Stockton. Arriving officers spotted three men taking three female hostages from the bank at gunpoint. The robbers stole a bank employee's SUV and led officers on the pursuit, Stockton police Officer Joe Silva told The Associated Press.

During the chase that lasted 45 minutes along highways and city streets, two of the hostages, who are bank employees, were thrown from the SUV, police said. One was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound; the other suffered a grazing bullet wound.

The pursuit continued as the suspects fired with AK-47-style rifles from the SUV. Fourteen police cars and an unknown number of homes along the robbers' path were peppered with gunshots, Police Chief Eric Jones told a news conference late Wednesday.





When it was all over, the third hostage was found dead in the SUV and one of the robbers was also dead. The police chief said the hostage was a bank customer, and that she appears to have been used by the suspects as a shield during the shootout. KTXL-TV reported that family members had identified the hostage as Misty Singh.


The surviving suspect was conscious, Jones said.





Jones said the robbers also tied up a bank security guard.



The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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