Man dies in attempt to rob bank; wounded guard is called a hero

A security guard was in serious condition Friday after being shot by an assailant who fatally stabbed himself in a botched robbery attempt at an Industry bank, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Moore said the robber entered the Bank of the Orient about 11 a.m., armed with a handgun and pocket knife, and shot the guard in the lower torso when he ignored his command to drop to the floor.

When the guard tried to stop the man with pepper spray, he was shot again and suffered a grazing wound to his head, Moore said.

Even then, the guard managed to wrestle the gun from the assailant and then crawl out of the bank, Moore said.

Deputies who responded to a 911 call from bank employees found the assailant inside, and when he refused orders to drop his knife, deputies shot him with a Taser stun gun, Moore said.

The deputies then noticed that the man had “multiple injuries in the chest from what appear to be self-inflicted stab wounds consistent with the knife he was carrying,” Moore said.

The deputies called paramedics, who pronounced the man dead at the scene.

The man’s identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Moore said it was not certain that the man’s death was caused by the stab wounds. But the deputy said it was not likely that he died as a result of the Taser.

Amnesty International has questioned the safety of the Taser, which has been linked to several deaths over the years.

“We’ll leave the cause of death to the coroner,” Moore said. An investigation into the shooting was continuing, he said.

The security guard, whose name was not released, was being treated at County-USC Medical Center.

Some sheriff’s deputies called him a hero.

“He pretty much fought with the suspect from the moment he entered the bank,” Moore said.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com