Serial Bank Robber Killed By Police

Mobile Louisiana Louisiana investigators say a bank robbery suspect killed Thursday by Mobile police should have been in jail.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Fri, July 24, 2009 - 4:06 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, July 24, 2009 - 4:41 pm CST

A bank robbery suspect killed Thursday by Mobile police should have been in jail, according to investigators in Louisiana.

Mobile police say James Hill, 46, was caught on surveillance camera holding up the RBC bank on Old Shell Road Thursday afternoon. After leading police on a high speed chase, he was shot and killed in the parking lot of First Baptist Church in Tillmans Corner.

A spokesperson for the Lake Charles Police Department says Hill should not have been Mobile's problem.

From February 2007 to September 2007, Hill was suspected in seven bank robberies in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, according to Sgt. Mark Kraus. Hill spent 18 months in jail before the charges against him were dropped.

"We felt that the evidence was compelling enough for a prosecution," said Kraus, who tells News Five at least three of the cases were never sent to a Grand Jury. "As a result of the decision that was made, our colleagues in Mobile, Alabama were forced to shoot and kill what we believed was a serial bank robber.”

Mobile police will not say how many offiicers fired at Hill, who we now know was armed with a GAMO V-3 air pistol, but Chris Levy, a spokesperson for the department, says the amount of force was appropriate. Witnesses at the scene counted at least 30 bullet holes in the suspect's car.

One bullet struck a nearby car wash, and another bullet shattered the window of Kidz Korner daycare about 50 yards from the scene.

Tabatha Richardson, who was in the daycare bathroom when glass fell at her feet, says she is still shaken by the shoot out.

"I had a very hard time coming back this morning," said Richardson, "looking and seeing what was going on and seeing how close it really was."

Levy says the officers who fired the shots are on paid administrative leave, which is routine in any officer involved shooting.

WKRG.com » News Stream » Alabama

Video
Photo
Map

Embed:

WKRG.com Related

News –› Alabama

News –› Mobile

Discuss this in the forum

Email to a Friend

Printer Friendly

Download Video

ickthus Says:

Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 10:19 am

I have been at the “range” shooting with some of the top shooters in the country the last year or so and all of them as well as anyone who does shoot competition will tell you, to group your shots with in 3 feet of the target @ 50’ plus is dam good combat shooting with a service pistol. To have a flyer (a bullet that goes wide of the target) could very well be bad ammo, as factory ammo is known to do that sometimes. It is funny how many people in this world can’t or don’t know the difference of what is real and what is just made for TV. Look at that car again and you will see some dam good grouping at the range they were shooting. After this is looked into I would hope there would be some wards and service citations handed out. Good job MPD.

STUNNER365 Says:

Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 9:22 am

Lets face it people in a perfect world the subject would have been killed by a single head shot in an open field without any bystanders or buildings surrounding the incident. But u forget there is no such thing, so, i know for a fact that the appropiae force was used and the threat was euthinized and all those officers went home safely. Now i dont wish things like this to ever happen again, but if it does, then this is how it should be handled. Let that be a statement to all those bad guys who have thughts of killing, robbing, and stealing.. God bless all the officers that serve tjis community!!

bobcat Says:

Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 8:19 am

Concerning the accuracy of the majority of shots fired at the suspects vehicle, I believe at the angle from where the officers apparently had a “general location” of where the suspect would have been located in the drivers seat and having to shoot through a rear dark tinted window I would say they did pretty darn well.
Good Job MPD for taking this violent and habitual “serial” bank robber of the streets. Also IMO, after the bank robbery, endangering innocent victims during the high speed chase and brandishing a weapon, There was only 1 choice to be made and the LE knew what had to be done.

attaboy Says:

Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 6:18 am

Way to much force. The guys shooting at this fellow need to spend more time on the range. Way to many bullets missed their mark and why were there so many shots fired when the suspect never fired a single shot. All of these officers need to be retrained in the use of deadly force before the wrong person or (child) gets shot.