A shoot out Tuesday morning between an armed robber and an armored car guard in front of a bank on Ga. Highway 138 in Union City resulted in a hail of gunfire and the robber fleeing.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Bank of America at 6737 Londonderry Way, said Union City Police spokesman George Louth. An armed guard with AT Systems exiting the bank with several bags on route to his armored car was confronted by a man carrying a handgun, Louth said. Multiple gunshots were exchanged between the two, during which time the man grabbed some of the bags and fled, he said. The guard kept shooting as the perpetrator ran toward Shannon Parkway, Louth said, noting the the perpetrator dropped the bags along the way as he fled the scene.

Witnesses described the perpetrator as being a black male, age 20-35, weighing 150-170 pounds and wearing a camouflage jacket, blue ski mask and a yellow baseball cap that was recovered by police, Louth said. Witnesses said the man entered a dark green Pontiac that quickly left the scene.

Louth said neither the guard, the perpetrator nor any bystanders were shot during the exchange of gunfire, though the perpetrator might have sustained some type of injury given that he eventually dropped the stolen bank bags.

Fulton County Police also responded to the incident and did agents of Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI assumed control as the lead agency in the crime. The contents of the bags and whether any of them were successfully stolen is unknown, said Louth.

Addressing the nature of the crime and its blatant commission against the armed guard, Louth said the perpetrator had obviously calculated the risk and apparently felt confident that a potential shoot out was something he was willing to encounter. That mindset, Louth said, poses a real problem for citizens.

“He is a clear and present danger to the public at large,” Louth said.

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