Robber Kills Man at Teller Machine

A man was shot to death in a struggle with an armed robber moments after he made a withdrawal from an automatic teller machine at a Northridge savings and loan, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

Aflam Hafham, 29, of Canoga Park was fatally shot at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday in the Coast Savings parking lot at Nordhoff Street and Tampa Avenue, across from the Northridge Fashion Center shopping mall, said Detective Jack Dillard.

Dillard said Hafham and two friends, whom he would not identify, drove into the parking lot, and Hafham got out of the car and walked to the automatic teller machine at the side of the bank building.

After making a withdrawal from the machine, which is under an outdoor light and in view of Nordhoff, Hafham was stopped as he walked to his car by an armed man who demanded his money, Dillard said.

Meantime, another man approached Hafham’s car, pointed a gun at Hafham’s friends and demanded their wallets, Dillard said.

Struggled With Robber

Hafham struggled with the man robbing him and was shot twice in the upper body, police said. After Hafham was shot, his friends turned over their wallets to the two gunmen, who fled on foot, police said. The two friends were not injured.

Hafham was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police refused to say how much money was taken in the robbery. They said they did not have clear descriptions of the suspects but were attempting to determine if other ATM robberies may have been the work of the two gunmen.

“There have been several others, but we don’t know if they are related,” Dillard said.

Police would not say how many ATM robberies have occurred in the area in recent weeks, but one detective pointed out that the crimes are “very prevalent nowadays” because customers are easily accessible to robbers.