3 Fort Worth bank employees shot during attempted robbery
FORT WORTH, Texas - Three employees were shot during an attempted bank robbery in the Arlington Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth Thursday morning.
Fort Worth Police Department’s Officer Chris Britt said it happened around 9:20 a.m. at the Veritex Community Bank on Merrick Street.
According to preliminary reports, at least two men walked into the bank with weapons and fired shots.
Three of the bank’s female employees were shot. All were taken to area hospitals in serious condition. Their injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, according to MedStar officials.
The president and CEO of Veritex Community Bank said "we ask for a healthy and positive outcome for our three teammates which we believe is the best medicine. We will provide the Fort Worth Police Dept. With any assistance and cooperation they request of us. "
Officers are still searching for the gunmen in the area. Britt did not have a description of them and said it’s not yet clear if they got away on foot or in a car.
A home on Blackmore Avenue was surrounded by heavily armed police for nearly four hours. Investigators are gathering evidence at the scene where three people were detained in the area of this home.
Just after 11 a.m., officers swarmed around the home in the 5700 block of Blackmore Avenue. A woman that was inside the home walked out frantically as guns were aimed at her.
SWAT team members arrived on the scene and secured the perimeter of the home and nearby residents were evacuated just as a precaution.
Police and Federal agents on the scene told FOX 4 News this white vehicle in the driveway next door was the suspect's vehicle from the bank shooting.
Two Fort Worth PD armored vehicles moved into the front of the home to provide officers with cover. From Sky 4, a huge police presence could be seen and SWAT officers strategically placed all around the home.
For several hours, police worked patiently to try to make contact with who might be inside. Once a search warrant was obtained SWAT members moved into the home.
Police say they have three people detained, but it’s still not clear if they are connected to the attempted bank robbery.
"If anybody in the area saw anything unusual, vehicles leaving the scene quickly that now hearing about this seems odd, if they were any people running from the area that seems odd... if you saw anything that might seem unusual, please give us a call," he said.
One resident who lives in Arlington Heights described it as a very old and quiet neighborhood.
"There are a lot of businesses and a lot of residences mixed together so as far as I know, this is very unusual for there to be a shooting here. But there is a lot of petty crime in the area as there is all over the city and the county," said Brent Hyder, who lives in Arlington Heights.
He called the shooting appalling.
"I'm really sad for those ladies. That's just unconscionable," he said.
Veritex’s Merrick Street branch is closed for the day, the bank said on its website.
The FBI has the lead role on the investigation as authorities continue their effort to ID the suspects from evidence in the bank and any possible surveillance video.