Cherokee County Sheriff Larry Wilson described the men as two armed white males, one of whom was dressed in camouflage, the other wearing black fatigues and a black shirt. One had a black a gray looking mask, the others had a white scarf around his head. When the men entered the bank, employees fled into a back room.
One was carrying a shotgun and the other had a small weapon, Sheriff Wynn said. After demanding cash, the suspects fled the scene in an older model white car and were spotted a short time later on County Road 176 turning off 107 in the Mt. Vernon area where they reportedly fired on a civilian who was trying to follow them. Sources stated that agents apprehended them in this area, but those reports have not been confirmed at this time.
At least one customer was in the bank at the time, but fortunately no customers or employees injured in the robbery, Sheriff Wilson said. On the scene Friday morning were agents from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Leesburg Police Department, the FBI and Alabama State Troopers.
Terry and Linda Boman and family, who live nearby, were engaged in a yard sale at the time.
“An older lady drove up in a new gray car,” said Mrs. Boman. “She said, ‘You need to call 911. They are robbing the bank! There’s two men in there with shotguns! She said, ‘I went to go in and do some business and saw them in there and I heard the lady say, ‘You don’t need to shoot,’ so I hollered ‘Bank Being robbed!’ We saw their car. They just calmly pulled out of the parking lot.”
“I called 911 and they told me they didn’t have a report of it,” said Kelly Boman, their daughter. “While I was on the phone, the bank security system came through and they made the report. They (robbers) had tinted windows. It was a four-door 80s model. You couldn’t even tell if there was a driver, much less if there was anybody else in there.”
Boman said she got 39 from tag number.
“It’s been interesting,” said Boman. “We were out here just walking around, had a guy looking in the shed, and this woman pulls up and everybody just leaves.”
An employee of the Sand Rock Citgo stated that the bank manager escaped and headed for Citgo to call for help.
“When she got here, she was out of breath,” the Citgo employee recalled. “She saw the guy. She was going to walk through the back door and she saw the guy with a rifle and camouflage clothing on. She went back out the door, ran down here. Finally, she said ‘Dial 911’ and we called 911. Her hand was bleeding. I don’t know how she cut it, but as far as I know, she was okay.”
The investigation continues at this time, Sheriff Wilson said
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