PARK LA BREA : Guard Wounded in Bank Holdup; 4 Robbers Sought

A security guard was wounded Tuesday during the robbery of a bank in the Park La Brea area, and four suspects were being sought, an FBI spokesman said.

The guard, whose name was withheld, was wounded shortly after 10 a.m. at Gilmore Bank, 6291 W. 3rd St., said FBI spokesman John Hoos. Paramedics took the 27-year-old man to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was in stable condition with a wound to the left shoulder, a hospital spokeswoman said.

It was the second time in a week that a guard has been shot during a bank robbery in Los Angeles County.

Last Wednesday, Juan Corona, 36, was fatally wounded by a woman who entered the Home Bank in San Pedro with two male accomplices and robbed the bank shortly after 9 a.m. It was the guard’s third day on the job.

In Tuesday morning’s holdup, two men and two women entered the bank. The women and one of the men were carrying handguns, Hoos said. The armed man jumped the counter carrying a cloth bag and took money from the teller drawers, while the other man and women waited in the lobby, Hoos said.

“There was some type of struggle between a female and the guard and the guard was shot,” Hoos said.