The North Hollywood Shooting

···A few nights ago I saw a special on MSNBC called Captured: The North Hollywood Shootout (I couldn’t find anything on google about the show). It was about the famous shootout between the LAPD and some would be bank robbers in, you guessed it, North Hollywood.

···This is a pretty famous event and rightfully so, but I hadn’t heard about it. For some reason I find real life crime dramas to be pretty interesting and like to research them. I think it has to do with the complex nature of bad guys. I find it way more interesting to find out what makes them go against the rules than to find out about the heroics of the people who try to stop them. That’s why I like to make movies that explore motive (see my short films on Herostatus.net).

···Anyway, the gist of the story is that a couple of guys try to rob a bank but the cops are able to surround the building before they can leave. So, the two bank robbers come out of the bank and are prepared to shoot their way out. And they have come prepared for battle. Each robber is decked in several layers of body armour from head to foot and carries fully automatic weapons loaded with armor peircing bullets. They proceed to shoot at anything that moves for 44 minutes. The cops handguns are no match for the two robbers. Eventually the robbers try to leave the bank. One on foot and the other in the getaway car. The guy on foot eventually shoots himself in the head with a pistol and the guy in the car runs out of ammunition, surrenders, then bleeds to death on the street from 29 bullet wounds that found their way through the armor.

(graphic source)

···The whole thing was shown live from news helicopters and is an incredible and sensational modern crime story. This wikipedia article has tons more info about it and I highly suggest looking over it.

···There are a few really interesting aspects to the case such as, the cops had to borrow some heavy weaponary from a local gunshop and then the gunshop was sued for not waiting ten days and doing a background check before handing out the guns to cops. The gun shop didn’t survive the lawsuit and is no longer in business. And speaking of lawsuits, the family of the second gunman sued the city of LA for not getting the suspect into an ambulance soon enough and cuasing his death.

···Also, supposedly, the SWAT team was stuck in traffic, hence the lack of skilled marksman taking headshots.

···This Youtube video, is pieced together from the various news cameras and is narrarated to summarize the events. It’s the best one I found, but there has to be better ones out there.