Armored car guard shot in Glendale ID-ed

GLENDALE, AZ - Glendale police have identified and armored truck guard who was shot by a man making a pickup at a Walmart on Sunday.

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

Glendale Fire Department spokesman Daniel Valenzuela said the victim, 28-year-old Gregory Besemer, 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.

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

The Associated Press said Tuesday the robber might have an accomplice.

Police say there is some surveillance video of the suspect that they are reviewing, but it will not be release because it could "compromise the investigation."

Police said Wednesday that Besemer had been released from the hospital.