Preparation On the morning of February 28, 1997, after months of preparation that included extensive
reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch located at 6600
Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Mătăsăreanu armed themselves with a
Beretta 92FS pistol and five rifles, a
semi-automatic HK-91 and several illegally converted weapons equipped with
drum magazines: two
Norinco Type 56 S rifles, a fully automatic Norinco Type56 S-1, and a fully automatic
Bushmaster XM15 Dissipator. The robbers filled a jam jar with gasoline and placed it in the back seat with the intention of setting the car and weapons on fire to destroy evidence after the robbery. Phillips wore roughly of equipment, including a Type IIIA bulletproof vest and groin guard; a
load bearing vest with multiple military ammo pouches; and several pieces of homemade body armor created from spare vests, covering his shins, thighs, and forearms. Mătăsăreanu wore only a Type IIIA bulletproof vest, but included a metal
ballistic plate to protect vital organs. Additionally, each man had a watch sewn onto the back of one glove, in order to monitor their timing. Before entering, they took the barbiturate
phenobarbital, prescribed to Mătăsăreanu as a sedative, to calm their nerves. The Forensic
Toxicology Laboratory of the Coroner's Office later also found
ephedrine and
phenylpropanolamine in Phillips' blood, and
phenytoin in Mătăsăreanu's blood.
Bank robbery Phillips and Mătăsăreanu, driving a white 1987
Chevrolet Celebrity, arrived at the Bank of America branch at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:16 a.m., and set their watch alarms for eight minutes, the time they had estimated it would take police to get to the bank in response to an alarm. To come up with this timeframe, Phillips had used a radio scanner to monitor police transmissions prior to the robbery. As they approached the bank entrance, each armed with a Norinco Type 56 rifle, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu forced a customer leaving the ATM lobby near the entrance into the bank and onto the floor. A security guard inside saw the scuffle and the heavily armed robbers and radioed his partner in the parking lot to call the police; the call was not received. Phillips shouted, "This is a fucking hold-up!" before he and Mătăsăreanu opened fire into the ceiling in an attempt to scare the approximately thirty bank staff and customers and to discourage resistance. Additionally, the officers were pinned down by the
heavy sprays of gunfire coming from the robbers, making it extremely difficult to attempt a head shot with their handguns. Several officers acquired five
AR-15-style rifles from a nearby gun store to combat the robbers. Two locations adjacent to the bank's north parking lot provided good cover for officers and detectives. Police likely shot Phillips with their handguns while Phillips was still firing and taking cover near four vehicles adjacent to the north wall of the bank. One location that Officer Richard Zielenski of Valley Traffic Division effectively used for cover was the adjacent
Del Taco restaurant's west wall, from Phillips. Zielenski fired 86 9mm rounds at Phillips and is believed to have hit Phillips during their exchange. Zielenski was also able to use this position to draw Phillips' fire away from Sgt. Haynes and Officer Whitfield, who were both wounded and had only marginal cover behind trees across Laurel Canyon Blvd. The other location that proved advantageous for the LAPD was the backyard of 6641 Agnes Avenue. A cinder block wall provided relative cover for several detectives shooting at Phillips with their 9mm pistols. Detective Vince Bancroft and Detective Kevin Harley, in particular, were able to position themselves behind cover and fire between 15 and 24 rounds at Phillips, from a distance of approximately . After Mătăsăreanu backed the Chevrolet Celebrity out of the handicapped space in the north parking lot, Phillips received a gunshot wound to his left wrist, based upon helicopter news footage that showed him react to pain. At the same approximate time, LAPD gunfire struck the Heckler & Koch rifle that Phillips was firing, rendering it inoperable with a bullet impact to the
receiver, causing the magazine to become jammed in the mag well. Phillips discarded it and rearmed himself with another Type 56 rifle from the trunk of the sedan.
Arrival of SWAT team After LAPD radio operators received the second "officer down" call from police at the shootout, a tactical alert was issued. An
LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT team (Donnie Anderson, Steve Gomez, Peter Weireter, and Richard Massa) arrived 18 minutes after the shooting had begun. They were armed with
AR-15s, and wore running shoes and shorts under their body armor, as they had been on an exercise run when they received the call. Upon arrival, they commandeered a nearby
armored car (driven by Hector Quevedo and David Campbell), which was used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the scene. As Phillips approached the passenger side of the getaway vehicle, he was hit in the shoulder and his rifle was struck in the receiver and magazine by bullets fired by police. After firing a few more shots with one arm, Phillips discarded the HK-91 and retrieved the Norinco Type 56 S-1 before exiting the parking lot and retreating onto the street while Mătăsăreanu drove down the road. Officers across the street continued to shoot Phillips' body several times while he was on the ground. After the firing had stopped, officers in the area surrounded Phillips, handcuffed him (though obviously deceased at this point, it was still standard procedure for police to arrest a criminal of his severity as if he were alive) and removed his ski mask. Later reports showed that Mătăsăreanu had 29 gunshot wounds in the legs and died from trauma due to
excessive blood loss from two gunshot wounds in his left thigh. Most of the incident, including the death of Phillips and surrender of Mătăsăreanu, was broadcast live by news helicopters, which hovered over the scene and televised the action as events unfolded. Over 300 law enforcement officers from various forces had responded to the citywide tactical alert. By the time the shooting had stopped, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu had fired about 1,100 rounds, approximately a round every two seconds. • A
Beretta 92FS Inox with several magazines • A
Bushmaster XM-15 E2S Dissipator converted illegally to fire
full auto with two 100-round
Beta-C Magazines and fitted with a M16A1-style handguard It was speculated during news reports that Phillips had legally purchased two of the
Norinco Type 56S rifles and then illegally converted them to be fully automatic. However, as Phillips was a convicted felon, it was not legal under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) for him to possess, let alone purchase, a firearm. The two well-armored men had fired approximately 1,100 rounds, while approximately 650 rounds were fired by police. Following their training, the responding patrol officers directed their fire at the "center of mass", or torsos, of Mătăsăreanu and Phillips. However,
aramid body armor worn by Phillips and Mătăsăreanu covered all of their vitals (except their heads), enabling them to absorb pistol bullets and shotgun pellets, while Mătăsăreanu's chest armor, thanks to a steel armor plate, successfully withstood a hit from a SWAT officer's AR-15. The service pistols carried by the first responding officers were of insufficient power and used the wrong type of ammunition for penetrating even pistol-rated soft body armor. Furthermore, the police were pinned down by fully automatic suppressive fire, making it difficult for them to execute the type of well-aimed return fire that would be required to attempt head shots. Phillips was shot 11 times, including his self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chin, while Mătăsăreanu was shot 29 times.
Casualties Twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured and the two suspects died in the shootout.
Police officers • Sergeant Larry "Dean" Haynes was hit in the shoulder and legs • Officer Martin Whitfield was shot and seriously wounded four times in the left arm, right femur and chest • Detective Tracey Angeles was grazed in the stomach and buttock • Juan Villigrana was struck across the head by the stock of an assault rifle • Michael Horen was hit in the left side of the chest • Jose Haro was hit by flying glass and fragments • William Marr was hit by glass and fragments in the right arm, left temple and nose ==Aftermath==