Qualla: North Hollywood Shootout

North Hollywood Shootout: Introduction

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anynobody, CC BY-SA 3.0. At 9:16 a.m. on February 28, 1997, two men in homemade body armor walked into a Bank of America branch at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood, California. They had given themselves eight minutes. What followed was 44 minutes of sustained gunfire that would be broadcast live to a stunned nation, leave twelve officers and eight civilians wounded, and fundamentally change how American police departments arm their patrol officers. By the time the shooting stopped, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu had fired approximately 1,100 rounds. The LAPD's standard-issue 9mm pistols and .38 revolvers were no match for their illegally modified assault rifles.

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Image: Anynobody | CC BY-SA 3.0

North Hollywood Shootout: The High Incident Bandits

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit El Spartan (El Greco on wikipedia), CC BY 2.5. Phillips and Matasareanu were not amateurs. Since 1993, they had robbed armored cars and banks across the western United States, earning the FBI designation 'High Incident Bandits' for their overwhelming firepower. In 1995, they ambushed a Brink's armored car in Winnetka, killing...

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Image: El Spartan (El Greco on wikipedia) | CC BY 2.5

North Hollywood Shootout: Outgunned in the Streets

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit LAPD, Public domain. The first officers on scene carried 9mm pistols and .38 revolvers. Some patrol cars had 12-gauge shotguns. Phillips and Matasareanu carried Norinco Type 56 rifles modified for automatic fire, a Bushmaster XM-15 with a 100-round drum magazine, and a Heckler & Koch HK91. Their body...

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Image: LAPD | Public domain

North Hollywood Shootout: End of the Battle

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tim Dobbelaere, CC BY-SA 2.0. Phillips was shot 11 times before dying on the street. His final wound was self-inflicted to the chin. Matasareanu, hit 29 times in the legs, bled to death from two gunshot wounds to his left thigh. Toxicology reports revealed both men had taken the sedative phenobarbital before ...

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Image: Tim Dobbelaere | CC BY-SA 2.0

North Hollywood Shootout: The Day Police Changed Forever

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mintchocchipisyummy, CC BY-SA 4.0. Seven months after the shootout, the Department of Defense gave 600 surplus M16 rifles to the LAPD. Patrol vehicles began carrying AR-15s as standard equipment, with Kevlar plating added to their doors. Officers were authorized to carry .45 caliber pistols instead of the 9mm weap...

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Image: Mintchocchipisyummy | CC BY-SA 4.0