http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264424,00.html
An FBI agent killed Thursday in a shootout with three bank robbery suspects in north central New Jersey might have been shot accidentally by another member of his stakeout team, the FBI said.
Special Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, assigned to the Newark FBI office, died after agents confronted three men suspected in a series of armed bank robberies.
"Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement released Thursday night. Investigators from the FBI's Inspection Division have been dispatched to the scene to review what happened, the FBI said.
A law enforcement official, who spoke previously on the condition of anonymity, said the agent was alive when brought to University Hospital in Newark by helicopter, but efforts to save him failed.
"He didn't make it," the official said.
The shooting death marked the first time an FBI agent has been killed in the line of duty in New Jersey, according to profiles of the agents killed on duty posted on the FBI's Web site.
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Bush, 52, joined the FBI in August of 1987, serving in Kansas City and transferring to Newark in 1991. He is survived by a wife and two grown children, the FBI said.
The gunfire erupted around noon Thursday as agents confronted three men outside a PNC Bank branch on Route 22 in Readington. When the shooting ceased, two suspects were in custody; the third ran off and was still at large as darkness fell Thursday. It was not immediately known how many rounds were fired or if any of the suspects were hit.
Close to 100 officers fanned out in the area near the Fox Hollow Golf Club to look for the fugitive, identified by state police as Francisco Herrera-Genao, 22, of New Brunswick, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. He was last seen heading on foot toward Route 78, near Route 22.
State police were coordinating the search, Capt. Al Della Fave said, using helicopters and dogs. Police were also going door-to-door in the neighborhood, with guns drawn, and searching vehicles in the area.
The shootout occurred in a commercial area only a few miles from the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co.
There were 10 to 12 bank employees and customers inside the bank at the time of the shootings, according to Josh Bavosa, 35, who was making a business deposit.
Bavosa said he heard three bursts of gunfire, which he said sounded like an automatic weapon. At that point, Bavosa said, chaos erupted as law enforcement officers descended on the area.
Other law enforcement officers were running into the woods, both behind the bank and the garden store across the street, Bavosa said.
Law enforcement officers then entered the bank and instructed customers and bank employees to go into a secure room and lock the door. Bavosa stressed that the bank was not robbed and no shots were fired inside the bank.
Herrera-Genao and the two suspects arrested at the scene ? Wilfredo Berrios, 28, and Michael Cruz, 21, both also of New Brunswick ? were to be charged with attempted armed robbery of the PNC Bank in Readington, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark said.
Prosecutors said more charges were expected to follow.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the gunfire broke out.
Brian Agans, who works in an engine shop across from the bank, said he heard a "pop, pop, pop." He ran outside to make sure a mechanic wasn't having a problem with equipment, but instead saw law enforcement swarming.
"All hell was breaking loose. I've never seen so many police and authorities take action ever in my life," Agans said.
Maynor Joel Veliz, 19, was working in the greenhouse at the Arvins Garden Center across the street when he heard shots and looked outside. He then saw a body lying in front of an adjacent store.
"I saw one guy on the ground," Veliz said. "I didn't know what happened, but they said a cop was killed."
Veliz said he didn't see anyone running from the scene.
Giovanni Finazzo, owner of Mangia Bella, a nearby pizzeria, said, other than a string of break-ins several years ago, there is not much crime in the area.
"Are you kidding?" Finazzo asked. "After 7 o'clock, you don't even see a ghost in this town."
