Emil Matasareanu

North Hollywood shootout
Larry Phillips, Jr. (left) and Emil Mătăsăreanu (right) in 1993 after being arrested in California for speeding.
Location	North Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, U.S. 34°11′29″N 118°23′46″W / 34.19139°N 118.39611°W / 34.19139; -118.39611
Date	February 28, 1997 9:17 a.m. – 10:01 a.m. (UTC-8)
Target	A branch of Bank of America.
Attack type	Bank robbery, shootout
Weapons	Two Norinco Type 56 S Norinco Type 56 S-1 HK91 Bushmaster XM-15 E2S Dissipator Beretta 92
Deaths	2 (both perpetrators)
Non-fatal injuries	20
Perpetrators	Larry Eugene Phillips Jr Emil Decebal Mătăsăreanu

The North Hollywood shootout, sometimes also called the Battle of North Hollywood, was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both perpetrators were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.

At 9:17 AM, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered and robbed the North Hollywood Bank of America branch. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were confronted by LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The two robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway vehicle, while continuing to engage the officers. The shootout continued onto a residential street adjacent to the bank until Phillips was mortally wounded, including a self-inflicted gunshot wound; Mătăsăreanu was killed by officers three blocks away. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu are believed to have robbed at least two other banks using virtually similar methods by taking control of the entire bank and firing illegally modified automatic weapons chambered with intermediate cartridges for control and entry past 'bullet-proof' security doors, and are possible suspects in two armored vehicle robberies.

Standard issue sidearms carried by most local patrol officers at the time were 9 mm pistols or .38 Special revolvers; some patrol cars were also equipped with a 12-gauge shotgun. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu carried illegally modified fully automatic Norinco Type 56 S-1s (an AK-47 variant), a Bushmaster XM15 Dissipator, and a HK-91 rifle with high capacity drum magazines as well as a Beretta 92FS pistol. The bank robbers wore heavy plate mostly homemade body armor which successfully protected them from handgun rounds and shotgun pellets fired by the responding officers. A police SWAT team eventually arrived bearing sufficient firepower, and they commandeered an armored truck to evacuate the wounded. Several officers also appropriated AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the need for patrol officers to upgrade their firepower in preparation for similar situations in the future. An officer was heard on the LAPD police frequency approximately 10-15 minutes into the shootout, warning other officers that they should "not stop [the getaway vehicle], they've got automatic weapons, there's nothing we have that can stop them."