Teen robber shot dead after bank standoff

Teen robber shot dead after bank standoff

Devon Mitchell (inset) was shot dead shortly after he walked out of the bank with a gun held to the head of a female hostageA teenaged robber was gunned down by police after a tense, three-hour standoff at a bank in Cary, North Carolina, in the US.

Five police officers fired at Devon Mitchell, 19, shortly after he walked out of the Wachovia bank with a gun pressed to the head of a female hostage.

Police arrived the scene as soon as they were alerted and marksmen were deployed at vantage points surrounding the bank building.

Initial negotiations led to the release of four hostages.

But protracted talks failed to end the nearly three-hour stand-off and later Mitchell emerged from the with the hostage.He was soon killed by a barrage of gunfire from police sharpshooters.

Cary Police chief Pat Bazemore strongly defended the officers involved in the operation. "This is absolutely not how we wanted this to end," she said, adding that police were in "constant" communication with the robber during the incident.

The standoff began at 3 pm and police learned that he initially had seven hostages. He quickly released two before releasing an additional two later on.

Mitchell thought he had two remaining hostages at that point, but was unaware of a third, who managed to hide from the suspect and speak with police about the conditions inside the bank.

News of the standoff apparently surprised Mitchells friends who say the troubled man was getting his life organised.

He had just started a job and returned to high school.
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Source: AgenciesPublished Feb 12 2011