An Army Ranger who is accused of robbing a bank with machine guns says his weapons came from Afghanistan -- and that they were brought back to the United States by American troops.
Luke Sommer, 20, has been charged with robbing a Bank of America branch in Tacoma, Wash., on Aug. 7. Surveillance cameras captured the robbery, which showed men armed with fully automatic AK-47s, balaclavas on their faces, carrying out a heist that investigators describe as having military-like precision.
Sommer neither admits nor denies the crime. But he does acknowledge the illegal machine guns found by the FBI in his Army barracks are his.
"I'm not going to deny the fact that I purchased one off a friend of mine," Sommer says. "Whether it was used or not in a robbery is obviously another issue. But I purchased one, and it cost me less than $300, $250."
And he adds that the gun, along with another AK-47 found in his quarters, were both brought over from Afghanistan by other soldiers.
The fully automatic AK-47 is a weapon typically found in war zones, but the model is hard to get in the United States because it is tightly restricted by federal law. Larry Kahaner, a journalist who's written a book on the AK-47, says it's an intimidating weapon.
"With an automatic AK, depending on the model and so forth, you can spray out between 600 and 700 rounds per minute," Kahaner says.
Army officials say they strictly prohibit soldiers bringing private weapons back from overseas, but they acknowledge there have been other instances of soldiers caught with illegal guns and other war souvenirs. In such cases, they say, the soldiers are prosecuted.
According to Monte Shaide, an FBI agent who investigated the case and reviewed the bank's video surveillance tapes, two bandits with automatic weapons watched customers while another, with a handgun, vaulted the counter and ordered a clerk to put only $50 and $100 bills into his bags.
The fourth man, also carrying a handgun, scooped money from other teller stations and $20,000 from a rolling money cart. The robbers steered clear of any dye packs and passed over bait bills with prerecorded serial numbers.
At the two-minute point, the robber counting off time shouted, "Let's go!" The four rushed out the door, ran to a waiting vehicle, and raced off with $54,011.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6642653
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0648/rangers.php
Luke Sommer, 20, has been charged with robbing a Bank of America branch in Tacoma, Wash., on Aug. 7. Surveillance cameras captured the robbery, which showed men armed with fully automatic AK-47s, balaclavas on their faces, carrying out a heist that investigators describe as having military-like precision.
Sommer neither admits nor denies the crime. But he does acknowledge the illegal machine guns found by the FBI in his Army barracks are his.
"I'm not going to deny the fact that I purchased one off a friend of mine," Sommer says. "Whether it was used or not in a robbery is obviously another issue. But I purchased one, and it cost me less than $300, $250."
And he adds that the gun, along with another AK-47 found in his quarters, were both brought over from Afghanistan by other soldiers.
The fully automatic AK-47 is a weapon typically found in war zones, but the model is hard to get in the United States because it is tightly restricted by federal law. Larry Kahaner, a journalist who's written a book on the AK-47, says it's an intimidating weapon.
"With an automatic AK, depending on the model and so forth, you can spray out between 600 and 700 rounds per minute," Kahaner says.
Army officials say they strictly prohibit soldiers bringing private weapons back from overseas, but they acknowledge there have been other instances of soldiers caught with illegal guns and other war souvenirs. In such cases, they say, the soldiers are prosecuted.
According to Monte Shaide, an FBI agent who investigated the case and reviewed the bank's video surveillance tapes, two bandits with automatic weapons watched customers while another, with a handgun, vaulted the counter and ordered a clerk to put only $50 and $100 bills into his bags.
The fourth man, also carrying a handgun, scooped money from other teller stations and $20,000 from a rolling money cart. The robbers steered clear of any dye packs and passed over bait bills with prerecorded serial numbers.
At the two-minute point, the robber counting off time shouted, "Let's go!" The four rushed out the door, ran to a waiting vehicle, and raced off with $54,011.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6642653
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0648/rangers.php
I'm not sure how legal that was...
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