Surviving Suspect of Bank Robbery May Be Charged with Murder

The only member of a gang of bank robbers that survived a shoot-out has been charged with several crimes and may also face a murder charge for using one of the hostages as a shield. J.R., 19, is looking at a triple-murder charge for his role in a bank heist gone wrong. The three dead include the female hostage and two others robbery suspects. According to prosecutors, the police shoot out occurred during broad daylight.

Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney said that J.R. may be looking at a death sentence – as the three people were killed during kidnappings and robbery. Other charges include 22 counts of attempted murder of police officers that were involved in the pursuit. Further criminal counts may be added for the dozen or so homes that were struck by gunfire in the approximate one-hour shoot out.

The bank heist and ensuing gun battle occurred on Wednesday, July 16. According to the D.A., the police department took the weekend to work on their investigation and draft the charges against J.R. It is unknown if J.R. has sought private counsel or if he would choose to have a public defender assigned to his case.

The robbery began when three men armed with handguns and an AK-47 rifle entered the Bank of the West branch. They chose three women to take as hostages – two were employees of the bank and the third was a bank customer. The robbers took the hostages with them as they fled the scene in an SUV that belonged to a bank employee.Two of the three women sustained injuries when they were either thrown, or jumped from, the SUV while it was moving. The third woman, M.H.S., 41, was used as a human shield and was killed.

The two robbers that were also killed in the shoot out were A.M., 27, and G.R., 30.

By the end of the weekend, Officer J.S. had linked A.M. to a robbery from January 31 – at the exact same bank branch. Officer J.S. made the discovery after viewing the bank's surveillance videos, looking at witness statements and comparing both robberies. In the January incident, the robbers had also used a bank employee's car as their getaway vehicle.

The police are still looking for the accomplice that drove the robbers to the bank. They have recovered a dark-painted Buick sedan that was seen in surveillance videos dropping off the robbers. The Buick was found, without license plates, abandoned about a 10-minute drive from the bank.