FBI Agent Killed In New Jersey Shootout
An FBI agent who was killed Thursday in a shootout with three bank robbery suspects might have been shot accidentally by another agent on his stakeout team, the FBI said.
Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, assigned to the Newark office, died after agents confronted three men suspected in a series of armed bank robberies.
"Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement Thursday night.
Bush and his team were tracking a group of men believed to be responsible for four robberies, the FBI said. In two of the robberies, the suspects had fired assault weapons while inside the bank, the agency said.
When the agents found three suspects outside a bank on Route 22 in Readington around noon Thursday, a shootout ensued and Bush was hit.
Two suspects were captured, and one was being sought in nearby woods, officials said. State and local authorities are searching for the suspects with helicopters and dogs.
Josh Bavosa, 35, said he was making a business deposit at the PNC Bank when heard three gunfire bursts that sounded as if they were from an automatic weapon.
When he looked out the window, Bavosa said, he saw law enforcers swarming around a car, pulling two people out and ordering them onto the ground.
State police were coordinating the search for the third suspect, Capt. Al Della Fave said. Close to 100 officers fanned out in the area near a golf course.
Police in Readington had secured several buildings and barns and were urging residents and business owners to lock their doors and not approach the suspect.
A law enforcement official, speaking anonymously because the investigation was ongoing, said the suspects in the shootout were part of a group of young men in their 20s who had been followed by FBI and state police for 2? weeks.
Other members of the bank robbery group had been arrested elsewhere in the state, said the official, who thought more arrests were possible.
Bush, 52, joined the FBI in August of 1987, serving in Kansas City and transferring to Newark in 1991. He is survived by a wife and two grown children, the FBI said.
Giovanni Finazzo, owner of Mangia Bella, a nearby pizzeria, said that other than a string of break-ins several years ago, there is not much crime in the area.
"Are you kidding?" Finazzo asked. "After 7 o'clock, you don't even see a ghost in this town."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, assigned to the Newark office, died after agents confronted three men suspected in a series of armed bank robberies.
"Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement Thursday night.
Bush and his team were tracking a group of men believed to be responsible for four robberies, the FBI said. In two of the robberies, the suspects had fired assault weapons while inside the bank, the agency said.
When the agents found three suspects outside a bank on Route 22 in Readington around noon Thursday, a shootout ensued and Bush was hit.
Two suspects were captured, and one was being sought in nearby woods, officials said. State and local authorities are searching for the suspects with helicopters and dogs.
Josh Bavosa, 35, said he was making a business deposit at the PNC Bank when heard three gunfire bursts that sounded as if they were from an automatic weapon.
When he looked out the window, Bavosa said, he saw law enforcers swarming around a car, pulling two people out and ordering them onto the ground.
State police were coordinating the search for the third suspect, Capt. Al Della Fave said. Close to 100 officers fanned out in the area near a golf course.
Police in Readington had secured several buildings and barns and were urging residents and business owners to lock their doors and not approach the suspect.
A law enforcement official, speaking anonymously because the investigation was ongoing, said the suspects in the shootout were part of a group of young men in their 20s who had been followed by FBI and state police for 2? weeks.
Other members of the bank robbery group had been arrested elsewhere in the state, said the official, who thought more arrests were possible.
Bush, 52, joined the FBI in August of 1987, serving in Kansas City and transferring to Newark in 1991. He is survived by a wife and two grown children, the FBI said.
Giovanni Finazzo, owner of Mangia Bella, a nearby pizzeria, said that other than a string of break-ins several years ago, there is not much crime in the area.
"Are you kidding?" Finazzo asked. "After 7 o'clock, you don't even see a ghost in this town."
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1st- how is it a proven fact that cops only care about the rich, do you even know any cops at all? If youve ever met one youd find that they are some of the greatest people in the world,you didnt hear about cops in 9/11 asking victims in the towers if they were gift shop casheers did you , no they just grabbed who ever they could.
2nd- they feds were there cause all bank robberies are considered federal crimes because all banks are federally insured, its always been that way.
3rd-the reason why the cops there looked like para-military was because alot of the pictures that they were showing were of the Somerset county SWAT team, which were there because the suspect was thought to be armed and dangerous,and as the age old rule goes "dont bring a knife to a gun fight" or in this case, "dont bring a short range pistol to an area with large open feilds and woods to go after a guy with thought to have a large rifle" also, whats gonna scare you more a cop with a gun, or a heavily armed swat team?
and by the way, the agent would never have gotten shot if those scum bags were not going around robbing banks
and by the way, what if you were in that bank and it had actually gotten robbed cause the fbi was not there
I expressed sympathy for the fallen FBI agent and contempt for the murderous bank robbers.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 08:18 AM : Apr 06, 2007
Please accept my apology. This one is just hitting a little to close to home for me. Sorry.
Someone did get hurt, the agent who died during the arrest. I don't care how he was shot or by whom, he's dead. A 51 year old man with a wife and family. There is no way to ever make up this loss to his family. We can only respect his sacrifice in the line of duty and offer his family our deepest sympathy.
To those using this tragedy as an opportunity for posting messages expressing political, religious, racial and economic positions, you should be ashamed. Have your politics really stripped you of your humanity? If you can't put it all aside for a moment to acknowledge the tragedy of this situation, then perhaps you have.
You all need some serious help. What coldblooded ***." Posted by retmilspouse at 12:58 AM : Apr 06, 2007
Don't pick on me.
I expressed sympathy for the fallen FBI agent and contempt for the murderous bank robbers.
Boofuckinghoo.
At least the FBI can step up, tell the truth - unlike the Army in the Pat Tillman episode.
fat azzed, faith professing, bible thumping, bush loving, republican hypocrite snakes.
yeah, i'd love to work over a few of those idiot dixie creeps.
fat, smelly, ignorant, uneducated, bigoted, phony confederate azzzholes.
yeah, i never met a southerner i ever liked.
war, hate, arrogance, phony christian creeps...
nothing good comes out of the south!
You all need some serious help. What coldblooded ***.
Posted by truthword at 06:17 PM : Apr 05, 2007
Excuse me but a bank robbery is a Federal Crime and that is the job of the FBI to investigate that. And they were there investigating a string of violent bank robberies in that area. Why dont you read the article and dont assume what the facts are. You don't know what you are taling about.