BERKELEY, Calif. -- Police are continuing their search for two suspects who shot a Brinks guard to death and wounded her partner during a Nov. 21 holdup at a Wells Fargo bank branch, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Officials say a $125,000 reward -- $100,000 from Brinks Inc. and $25,000 from the city of Berkeley -- is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
According to the Chronicle, 30-year-old Dena Monique Daniels was shot and killed as she and her partner arrived to service an ATM. Her partner, 36-year-old John Buzzard, was shot in the back and shoulder and is recovering at an Oakland hospital.
Berkeley police say two men in ski masks staged the robbery and fled in a white SUV that was abandoned a short distance from the crime scene.
Buzzard told the Chronicle that the bag the suspects took off with was empty. He and Daniels were shot before they even had a chance to open the ATM.
They had just entered the entryway of the Berkeley bank, where the ATM is located, and Buzzard had started turning off the alarm, he said, when Daniels cried, "Watch out!"
"I turned around to see a guy dressed in black with an AK-47 coming through the front door. I drew my revolver, but before I could even aim, the glass (window) to the left exploded," he said.
Buzzard, who believes he was shot by the second suspect, fell to the ground and dropped his gun. He heard a few more shots and Daniels breathing heavily. But when paramedics arrived, he heard them say Daniels had no pulse and they should concentrate on him.
Buzzard, who described himself as "pretty shook up" and sore from surgery to remove bullet fragments from his side said he'll probably return to work, at least for now. While Buzzard said he was aware that armored trucks are prime targets for robbers, he didn't expect to be a victim.
"You always think about it," he said, "but I guess I was like a lot of people who thought it wouldn't happen to me. It would be somebody else."
