Police: Pregnant bank teller, twin fetuses survive shooting

[April 23, 2008]  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A bank teller pregnant with twins was shot in the abdomen during a robbery Tuesday morning, but both the teller and the fetuses survived the attack, authorities said.

The masked gunman came into the Huntington Bank branch around 9:30 a.m., jumped over the counter screaming, shot the teller and grabbed cash from her drawer, police said. He fired another shot as he ran out of the bank.

The bullet entered the abdomen of Katherin Shuffield, 30, who is five months pregnant, but missed both fetuses, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said.

"Angry is really what I am. This is just brazen," said Ballard.

Police said the gunman used a compact assault rifle.

Shuffield was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Thompson said.

Police arrested two teenagers who were trying to enter a nearby high school about two hours after the attack, but both were released to their parents and were no longer considered suspects, Thompson said.

"This is senseless. Some poor lady, trying to make a living, pregnant, shot by a man without any provocation," Police Chief Michael Spears said.

The high school that the two teenagers tried to enter was temporarily locked down. Officers searched the school for a weapon, Spears said. Other schools in the area also were locked down as police searched for the shooter.

Lt. Jeff Duhamell said investigators didn't know why the robber shot Shuffield. It's unusual for bank robbers to shoot people because tellers are trained to hand over cash, he said.

"There's no indication that he knew her," Duhamell said.

[Associated Press; By KEN KUSMER]

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