Bank robbery suspect: 'It went to hell'

Fourth suspect captured

A Norfolk police officer and an FBI agent talk through a shot-out door window at the entrance of the U.S. Bank branch in Norfolk, Nebraska.

Story Tools

VIDEO Suspects arrested for the bank robbery shootings that left five people dead in Norfolk, Nebraska (September 27) PLAY VIDEO Wolf Blitzer talks with Gordon Adams, mayor of Norfolk, Nebraska, about the shootings and three men being held by police (September 26) PLAY VIDEO RELATED Interactive: Map of the trail of the suspects  Gallery: Bank Robbery Victims  • Story: Trooper kills self in robbery's wake  • Story: Hearing reveals robbery details  FACT BOX Recent bank robberies involving multiple fatalities: September 26, 2002 Three gunmen rob a U.S. Bank branch in Norfolk, Nebraska, killing five people. June 4, 1998 Three robbers kill two people at the Iberville Savings & Trust Bank in Napoleonville, Louisiana. May 19, 1994 A robber and his getaway car driver are shot dead by police after they kill the vice president of the South County Bank of Ashland in Ashland, Missouri, during a robbery attempt. June 16, 1991 A man kills four bank guards at United Bank of Denver, escaping with nearly $200,000. Called "The Father's Day Massacre," the crime remains unsolved. August 28, 1990 Two people are killed and a third left paralyzed during an attempt to rob the only bank in Pleasant Hill, Ohio. June 6, 1986 Two men rob First National Bank of Bath in East Allen Township, Pennsylvania, of about $2,000, killing three people and wounding two. July 16, 1985 Man kills two in an attempted robbery at Jefferson Savings & Loan Association in Port Arthur, Texas. December 14, 1984 Two men kill four people and wound three in an attempted robbery at the First Bank of Chattanooga in Geronimo, Oklahoma. Source: The Associated Press

NORFOLK, Nebraska (CNN) -- One robbery suspect said, "It went to hell in the bank," according to police investigating one of the deadliest bank robberies in the United States.

The Associated Press also reported that three of the four men entered the bank shooting, according to Norfolk Police Capt. Steve Hecker. The fourth, the alleged getaway driver, took off during the robbery.

All five victims were shot in the head within the first 40 seconds of Thursday's assault, Hecker testified at the bond hearing in the Madison County courthouse. (More about the victims)

Jose Sandoval, Jorge Galindo, Eric Fernando Vela and Gabriel Rodriguez are charged with five counts of first-degree murder and weapons charges for the holdup of a U.S. Bank branch in the rural community of Norfolk.

They are being held without bond.

"First degree murder in Nebraska carries either life imprisonment or the death penalty, and the weapons charge carries up to 20 years, which has to be consecutive," Madison County Attorney Joe Smith said.

During the hearing held in the Madison County courthouse, an interpreter read the charges and the men had individual attorneys appointed for them. (More from the hearing)

The four will be transported and held in different jails for security reasons, Smith said.

A preliminary hearing has been set for October 4 in the Madison County court, he said.

The suspects had cased the branch of the U.S. Bank in Norfolk on several occasions two weeks prior to the robbery, Hecker said.

In a blow to law enforcement, Nebraska State Trooper Mark Zach, 35, committed suicide with his service revolver. Authorities said Zach was apparently upset because he had stopped one of the suspects a week before the robbery, but botched a background check on the man's gun. (Full story)

In a Friday news conference, Norfolk Police Chief Bill Mizner said handguns were used in the robbery. Investigators are looking into whether three handguns recovered from the approximately 10-mile stretch of road between the Nebraska communities of Ewing and Clearwater were the weapons involved in the crime, he said.

Sandoval, Galindo, and Vela were taken into custody Thursday in O'Neill, 70 miles from the robbery, Mizner said.

Rodriguez, 26, was apprehended in a southeast Norfolk neighborhood around midnight Thursday, Mizner said.

Shortly after authorities announced they were looking for him and a female companion, Angela Gotshall, in an older blue Cadillac, the vehicle was found parked in the northeast section of Norfolk, Mizner said. That discovery led police to Rodriguez.

Police said Gotshall is being questioned, but is not considered a suspect. There is no reason to believe there are any other suspects, they said.

Four bank employees were pronounced dead at the scene, Mizner said.

Customer Evonne Tuttle, 37, of Stanton, was also dead at the scene. She was the first victim to be shot. Hecker said her killing was the only one seen on the surveillance video. The alleged robbers then jumped the counter, and shot the other employees out of camera range.

Gabriel Rodriguez and Jorge Galindo

Another customer was shot and wounded while walking out of the bank when gunfire blew out the glass doors, Mizner said. That person was treated at a hospital and released, he said.

At least one bullet shattered a restaurant window next door.

"I screamed and said, `My God, I think somebody shot the building!'" Donna Schwager, a Burger King cashier who had been working near the window, told The Associated Press. "The good Lord was looking out for me today."

At the news conference, the police chief held up a photograph of Bryant and her husband, released by her family, because they "didn't want to see all the news media coverage showing the bad guys," Mizner said.

Several victims' families expressed concern about media attention and Mausbach's family requested no media contact, he added.

Eric Fernando Vela and Jose Sandoval

No money was found on any of the suspects when they were taken into custody, the police chief said. A bank audit will be conducted.

Norfolk, northwest of Omaha, has a population of 25,000 and is the home town of comedian Johnny Carson.

Mizner noted that though the multiple slayings were not Norfolk's first, "in your heart you believe that's stuff that happens someplace else, just not here."

"This community is strong, it will pull together. ... We'll be all right," he said.

Father guilty of killing 9 of his children • Helicopter crashes near U.N. • Arrest in Aruba missing girl case • FDA panel OKs drug aimed at blacks

CNN/Money: Security alert issued for 40 million credit cards • Bin Laden deputy sends message • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues • Iran poll to go to run-off