Armored car guard shot at Glendale store

GLENDALE, AZ - Glendale police are searching for a man who shot and injured an armored truck guard as he was making a pickup at a Walmart.

The shooting occurred at a store at 56th and Northern avenues around 11:15 a.m. Sunday.

Glendale Fire Department spokesman Daniel Valenzuela said the victim, a male in his late 20s, was air-lifted to John C. Lincoln Hospital in stable condition.

Glendale Police Sgt. Brent Coombs said the Loomis armored truck employee was making a pickup at the store when he was approached by a black male and robbed toward the front of the store. The suspect fired several rounds at the employee, Coombs said.

The robber took a dark-colored bag with "items" from the store, according to Coombs.

Coombs said the driver was shot in the hand and the leg and that the wounds are "survivable."

Police described the suspect as a man in his 20s or early 30s, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall with a medium build. Coombs said the man had dreadlocks and was wearing black shorts and a black short-sleeved shirt, and possibly a dark-colored do-rag. He apparently fled the store through the garden department.

Coombs said the suspect may have left in a small red SUV. He said a vehicle matching that description was found abandoned in the parking lot and that it had been reported stolen. Police said it was not clear whether the vehicle is the one used by the suspect.

"It was very scary," said Susana Zelaya who was shopping at the time of the robbery. "I was near the fruits and vegetables when I heard the two shots. I saw the guard on the ground. He was lying there and people brought him towels."

Outside the store, many people like Bonnie Owen were left waiting and wondering. Her daughter-in-law and granddaughter were in the store. Owen spoke to her on the phone shortly after the shooting.

"She said there was a lot of shooting and she was frightened. She said she would have run for the door but she had her 1-month-old baby with her," Owen said.

Police canvassed the area by air and with K-9s but turned up no sign of the suspect by mid-afternoon.

Police say there is some surveillance video of the suspect that they are reviewing. They do not know if anyone else may have been involved.