ARCADIA : Bulletproof Vest Saves Officer; Gunman Killed

An Arcadia police officer was saved by his bulletproof vest in a shootout that left one bank robbery suspect dead and a 14-year-old girl, a bystander, slightly wounded in the leg Friday night near Santa Anita racetrack, authorities said.

“The officer took a bullet straight in his chest but . . . he’s here,” Sgt. Steve Gilmore said. Neither the officer nor the suspect was identified.

Gilmore said the officer was staking out a car that may have been used earlier in the day in a robbery at a Home Savings Bank branch about five miles away. “Almost immediately, persons who appeared to be the suspects approached the vehicle and a shootout occurred,” Gilmore said.