Slain Suspect Identified as Palmdale Man : Crime: Police say Albert Paul Guerrero, 34, may have robbed as many as 20 banks in the last six months.

An alleged bank robber shot and killed in Sherman Oaks by police was identified Wednesday as a Palmdale man who is suspected of robbing as many as 20 banks in the last six months, authorities said.

Albert Paul Guerrero, 34, was shot by two Los Angeles police officers Tuesday afternoon in a church parking lot after he fled a California Federal Bank branch he allegedly tried to rob. The officers, who had staked out the bank, said Guerrero threatened them with a knife when they cornered him in the lot.

Officers from LAPD’s Metro Division had run an undercover surveillance operation at California Federal and at least one other bank for a week in an attempt to catch the robber, who they believe had hit 10 other banks in the San Fernando Valley, one in Glendale and several others in Los Angeles, said Los Angeles Police Lt. John Dunkin.

Dunkin declined to name the other bank that was under surveillance Tuesday.

Police said they came close to catching Guerrero earlier this week, but he lost them in traffic during a brief chase. Dunkin declined to say whether Guerrero had robbed a bank prior to that chase.

Dunkin said police have evidence that Guerrero robbed a bank in Woodland Hills an hour before officers spotted him in Sherman Oaks.

That Guerrero, who had also switched license plates on his dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee to confuse police, was finally caught, Dunkin said, was a combination of good police work and a little bit of luck.

“It was a combination of good old-fashioned detective work . . . and educated guesswork,” Dunkin said. “And fortunately for us, and unfortunately for him, we picked the same bank.”

Dunkin said the undercover officers waited for Guerrero to rob the bank and flee out a back door so bank employees would not be endangered. Guerrero was shot, Dunkin said, after he came toward the officers with a 6-inch knife.

The officers who shot Guerrero, Jose Maldonado and Ronald Capra, were given desk assignments until police conclude their investigation, Dunkin said. All officer-involved shootings require such investigations, Dunkin said. The officers could be back on street duty as early as today.

Times staff writer Chip Johnson contributed to this story.