Read more: Local, Robbery, Gun, Shot, Bank, Connection
HOLDEN, MO. -- A bank robbery in Holden, Missouri has similarities to the two heartland bank robberies in Clarence and Winigan. Here is information on the Holden bank robbery from the ABC affiliate in the Kansas City area:
The FBI is searching for two bank robbery suspects who fired several shots at officers Wednesday morning in Holden.
No one was hurt during the heist.
It started at about 9:30 a.m., when a masked man walked into the Farmer and Commercial Bank and demanded money.
He fled in a stolen getaway car driven by another man, police said.
As officers pursued, the robbers opened fire, hitting two patrol cars with high-powered bullets, police said. No officers were injured.
"He raised something up -- it was the assault rifle -- he leaned over and opened fire," Cpl. Jeff Parsons said. "One round struck the windshield and another one struck the tire. I turned the wheel to avoid the gunfire, because I heard eight or nine shots going off, and I took the ditch."
"I could see the man in the back window with the rifle as he was shooting at me," Maj. Rick Martin said.
That stolen getaway car was found burned several miles away near Centerview.
About a half-mile from the field where the car was burned, the suspects apparently stole a pickup truck from a couple's property.
"I was at work this morning, and my husband called and said he had gotten a call that there were robbers loose in our area, and that they had a high-powered rifle," said Laura, who didn't want her last name used.
Laura asked officers to check her property, and that's when they discovered the missing pickup, KMBC's Peggy Breit reported.
Police have followed various leads, but haven't found the suspects yet.
"I don't believe they know this area, but they're serious -- anybody who would open fire on police cruisers and harm police officers, they're dangerous. They're a threat to the community and they need to be caught," Sheriff Chuck Heiss said. "They're thugs -- that's what they are. And they're bank robbers and attempted cop killers."
The robbers were described as two white men. One is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 200 pounds.
The men escaped in a late-model white Chevrolet 1-ton pickup truck with a flat farm bed. They were last seen fleeing east on Highway 58.
The FBI said there weren't any security cameras operating at the F&C bank, but investigators are comparing it with other bank robberies in the greater Kansas City metro area.
Authorities said they don't believe the bank robbers are still in the Holden area.
Anyone with information in the case can call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line at 816-474-TIPS.
