Dead armored truck employee identified
Friday, June 2nd 2017, 11:14 am EDT
Written by: Chris Finch, Digital Content Director
The man killed in a brazen robbery of an armed vehicle has been identified as Jame McBride. New Orleans police responded to the scene, Tuesday afternoon, at a bank in the 400 block of South Galvez Street.
He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison said he did not say if the workers returned fire nor would he disclose if money was stolen from the vehicle.
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$50,000 reward offered in armored truck employee murder
Thursday, June 1st 2017, 10:23 pm EDT
Written by: Ryan Naquin, Reporter
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -
Investigators believe that a $50,000 reward might help solve Wednesday's murder of a Loomis armored vehicle employee in New Orleans.
The FBI said there was a shootout between the employees and two gunmen at the Campus Federal Credit Union on South Galvez near Tulane Avenue around 4:30 p.m.
During the shootout, one of the employees was shot and died at the hospital.
"We will not stop until we have gotten the people who are responsible for this heinous act," New Orleans FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeff Sallet said. "For the person, if you're out there, you will not have a lot of friends with a $50,000 reward on your head."
Loomis donated $25,000 to the effort, along with the FBI's $20,000 and Crimestoppers' $5,000.
Investigators have revealed little information about the murder.
The name of the victim has not been released.
Sallet would not say if cash was stolen during the murder, but he did say money was the gunmen's goal.
"The senseless violence in this city is absolutely unacceptable and someone's greed led to the death of another human being," Sallet said.
"It was a brazen attack on actually three individuals that were armed," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. "We're going to be very aggressive and find the perpetrators who did that but again we rely on the public to give us a lot of help."
Wednesday's killing adds to the list of unsolved cases involving armored trucks in New Orleans.
In December of 2013, three gunmen shot and killed 45-year-old Hector Trochez as he unloaded money from a Loomis truck in a bank parking lot at Carrollton and Claiborne. The shooters got away with cash.
Seven months later, a Dunbar armored vehicle made a stop at an office in the Tulane University Square when a robber forced his way into the truck. The robber made the employee drive a few blocks before he took a bag of cash and took off running.
The FBI did not say if it believes any of the robberies are related.
"We will continue to work to hold those folks accountable," Sallet said. "It is something that is active and ongoing."
There are cameras surrounding the credit union's ATM drive through where Wednesday's killing took place.
Investigators have not said if they plan to release video to the public.
The FBI is asking anyone with information to call its field office at (504) 816-3000 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.
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UPDATE, 9 a.m.
New Orleans police confirmed Thursday morning that the fatal shooting of an armored truck driver occurred after an attempted robbery.
The shooting occurred outside a Mid-City bank near the intersection of Tulane Avenue and N. Galvez Street about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The worker was transported to an area hospital where he later died.
ORIGINAL STORY
An armored truck employee servicing an automated teller machine outside a Mid-City bank was killed by gunfire that erupted when he and a colleague were attacked by at least two people Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Witnesses described seeing at least one of the workers servicing the ATM shoot a weapon at the attackers, but during a news conference New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Michael Harrison declined to confirm whether there was an exchange of gunfire.
Harrison pleaded with residents to come forward and turn in whoever killed the dead employee, calling the slaying a targeted and "brazen act."
Officials did not immediately identify the victim or say whether any money was taken.
According to Harrison, the slaying occurred when the men servicing a Campus Federal Credit Union branch's ATM facing South Galvez Street were ambushed by at least two people about 4:30 p.m. Gunfire erupted.
The wounded employee was taken to a hospital by ambulance but died there. The unidentified attackers escaped.
Outside the bank Wednesday evening, a Loomis truck idled near the ATM under a steady drizzle, its emergency lights flashing and its engine still running.
Crime scene technicians placed more than 20 evidence cones, typically used to mark shell casings, in two separate spots. One was at the foot of the bank's drive-thru ATM exit on Galvez and the other along an entrance alley on Gravier Street.
The cones seemed to support accounts given to reporters by people who said they were across Galvez at the time of the deadly attack.
One man said he saw one person, who seemed to be trying to protect the slain man, fire a gun toward people apparently attempting to rob the truck, at least one of whom was shooting a weapon.
A woman who said she was parking her car said she saw one man who appeared to be trying to protect the truck firing toward the armored vehicle.
Near the vehicle, the man who was taken to the hospital spent a few moments kneeling before lying down and never getting back up, the woman said.
Both witnesses insisted on anonymity, citing fear for their safety.
The witnesses' accounts suggested the armored truck's attackers may have left the scene by running along the entrance alley facing Gravier, but Harrison wouldn't say how investigators believe they fled, whether by car or on foot.
Harrison said investigators needed to finish reviewing security camera footage. He said other officers were canvassing the surrounding neighborhood for signs of those responsible for Wednesday's mayhem.
Officials with the State Police and the FBI, which investigates all bank robberies, were also at the scene. They were joined by people in Loomis uniforms, at least one of whom could be seen weeping while standing near the bank.
The attack recalled the slaying of armored-truck employee Hector Trochez in December 2013. Trochez, who also worked for Loomis, was shot to death by three gunmen during a robbery outside a Chase bank at South Carrollton and South Claiborne avenues; no arrests have ever been made in that killing.
In October 2015, robbers held up an armored car outside a Chase bank at 1425 North Broad St.
Wednesday's deadly attack was at least the 79th homicide reported in New Orleans this year.
Another homicide was reported about 6:25 p.m. Wednesday, when a double shooting left one man dead and another man wounded in the 3000 block of Pauger Street in the 7th Ward, police said.
Anyone with information on any of the city's unsolved killings is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.