Memphis security officer shot, critically injured during bank robbery
Memphis TN March 6 2018 A security guard was shot and critically injured during a robbery at the First Tennessee Bank branch at 2015 East Brooks Road on Monday afternoon, police said, and investigators were looking for three suspects who took money.
The three suspects are still at large, Memphis Police Department Col. Mickey Williams said shortly before 3 p.m.
He said he had visited the hospital earlier in the afternoon and the security guard was in surgery.
“We’ve recovered evidence from this bank robbery nearby, thanks to the help of a witness,” said Williams, commander of the Raines Station police precinct.
He declined to describe the evidence but said it was recovered at the nearby Bent Tree Apartments.
The robbery was reported shortly before 1 p.m. on Monday.
The men fled in a dark-colored Chevrolet from the bank and the car was located by police around 1:10 p.m. in the 1900 block of Winchester Road, said MPD spokesman Sgt. Louis Brownlee.
Police haven’t released a detailed description of the suspects, though the department posted on Twitter that one was described as wearing sunglasses and red pants.
The bank is in Whitehaven near Memphis International Airport.
A large number of police officers had responded to the scene, and blocked off the bank with yellow tape.
Police kept several witnesses at the bank for questioning, and eventually began letting them out. One witness was Tom Degawa, a 49-year-old information technology manager.
He said he had come to the bank to make a deposit, finished the transaction and was walking out, just as three men walked in. “Of course, I let them in first.”
He said their movements seemed suspicious — they were walking so close together. “Typically, even the friends, they’re not so close.” He said one was wearing sunglasses that looked like Ray-Bans, but he didn’t get a good look at the other two.
“I walked out, and as soon as I walked out, three gunshots I heard,” Degawa said.
He ran to his car, got inside, and drove to the nearby Burger King that’s on the same side of Brooks Road as the bank. There, he called 911 on his cell phone. The police arrived quickly, and once they did, the dispatcher told him to go back and talk to the officers. He said he complied and explained what he saw.
Degawa said he saw the security guard on a gurney. “He was young.” He said that they’d interacted before the robbery. “I remember when I walked in, he waved at me.”
He said the incident will make him more careful about doing business at the bank. “Now we have to have at least two people.”
Degawa said this is the first time he’s experienced something like this since he moved to the United States from Japan about 30 years ago.
