Guard Killed in Southland’s 15th Armored Car Robbery This Year

A robber shot and killed an armored car security guard Thursday morning in a Bellflower supermarket as more than 60 employees and shoppers looked on, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The incident brings to 15 the number of armored car robberies in Southern California this year, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. Investigators are trying to determine if the robbery of the Armored Transport of California Inc. truck is related to the previous thefts, one of which also resulted in the death of a guard, Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Frank Salerno said.

Security guard Patrick Rooney, 35, of South Gate was killed at 10:50 a.m. Thursday after completing a delivery of cash to a newly opened Lucky Food Center on Lakewood Boulevard, Deputy Fidel Gonzalez said. As Rooney was leaving the store carrying a bag with additional cash and checks, the gunman surprised him and fired at point-blank range.

The armed man then fled out a rear door and escaped in a van driven by an accomplice, Salerno said. The van, which had been stolen several days ago, was abandoned a few blocks from the store, he said.

Rooney, who had worked for the armored car company for six years, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound in the head.

Salerno declined to say if Rooney had drawn his own weapon.

Rooney’s body, covered by a blanket, lay in a pool of blood and broken glass from a shattered front door for four hours as shoppers and curious residents stood behind the yellow tape cordoning off the area.

“It’s terrible, terrible,” said Peaches King, who had planned to do her grocery shopping at the store, which bore a large banner announcing its grand opening last week. “It’s so pitiful, you know.”

Salerno said there are similarities between Thursday’s attack and the other recent armored car robberies, but he would not elaborate.

On Oct. 14, an armored car guard was shot to death at the rear door of a Panorama City bank. The gunman fled with a money bag containing an undisclosed amount of cash.

Authorities did not say how much money was taken in Thursday’s robbery.