[police siren wailing]
[narrator] In Tennessee...
[woman]
[narrator] ...a tense stand-off in a shopping mall.
[police officer]
[loud bang]
They knew it was an armed person inside the building.
[police officer over radio]
If he's not coming out now, we're gonna have to go in and get him.
[narrator] In Illinois...
[dispatch]
[woman]
When a suspect is armed with a firearm,
then it's likely that they will use it.
'Cause you have to expect that if they've done it once,
they've probably done it before,
and it's likely that they're gonna do it again.
[police radio chatter]
[police officer shouting indistinctly]
[narrator] Forty miles north of Memphis, Tennessee,
is the city of Covington.
[dispatch]
[woman]
[police siren wailing]
[dispatch]
Covington Police Department were the first officers
that arrived on the scene.
[woman]
[police officer]
[Shannon Beasley] They knew there was an armed person inside the building,
but the door was locked when the Covington Police Department
first tried to get inside the business.
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[Beasley] Anytime that a call is upgraded to an armed party,
that changes your tactics and how you handle the situation.
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
Luckily, the one female hostage
that was close to the plate glass window
was able to relay a little bit of information
to the Covington police officers.
[police officer 1]
[John Weatherly] Any time that you know that there's a child involved,
there's this huge feeling of, "Oh, my God, I've gotta do something.
"I've gotta get this resolved
"because nobody wants to see a child hurt."
[Beasley] The Covington officers had called for assistance
from the Sheriff's office.
Some of our deputies arrived on the scene...
[police radio chatter]
[Beasley] ...and began setting up operations there.
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 3]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 3]
[woman]
[Beasley] We were still unsure of who our suspect was at that point.
We were starting to gather some information
as to who they possibly could be.
[woman]
[Beasley] The female hostage with the child
near the plate glass window was very terrified.
She even tried to unlock the door and get outside.
It ain't a situation where you would,
you know, run straight in there,
eliminate the threat, and get the kid to safety.
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 3]
The hostage negotiation team and the SWAT team
were called to the scene.
Once it was determined that the SWAT team
was gonna be taking over the situation,
a sniper for our SWAT team
took a position on the roof of a vehicle.
[Zachary Antle] I actually positioned my car about 50 yards from the building...
...and when I looked in my scope,
I seen the first female subject
and what I believed to be her kid
towards the back of the building.
I was able to see the suspect and the female having an argument.
I was able to notice that he had a firearm in his right hand.
[police officer 1]
The female hostage there by the window
had phoned the officer outside the building.
[police officer 1]
[Beasley] What bravery she had.
Not only did she have to look out for her life,
but she also had this child that she had to look after as well.
[police officer 1]
[Beasley] For the hostage to have an open line there to the business,
uh, was crucial to us getting information.
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[Antle] My assessment of it at that time was
he displayed behavior that was very erratic, very aggressive.
You know, being in any situation like that
when somebody has a gun,
it never tends to end well.
[woman hostage]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[female hostage]
[police officer 1]
[female hostage]
[police officer 1]
[Beasley] Knowing that he could very well start
shooting the hostages inside,
she had to have it right in her mind
that she was making the right decision
if and when she went for that door.
[police officer 1]
[female hostage]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[police officer 1]
[police officer 2]
[Antle] It takes a split second for somebody
to raise a firearm and shoot.
[police officer 1] I'm with the baby, open the door.
[female hostage]
[police officer]
She definitely picked, in my opinion,
a good time to do it.
At that point, the male subject
and the other female hostage,
they were in the back of the shop having an argument
behind a cubicle.
She had the bravery and the will
to get that child out and herself out.
When the hostage and the child first exited out the door,
that was a relief.
The hostage that was able to escape
identified our suspect as Felix Tyler.
Mr. Tyler was, in fact, a convicted felon,
and we were pretty certain the remaining hostage
was the owner, Pam Dean, of the Deans Tax Service.
[police officer 1]
[Weatherly] Felix Tyler and Pamela Dean
had been in a previous relationship.
He was upset because, apparently, there was a breakup,
uh, that was occurring, and he didn't like that.
[Beasley] As the members of the negotiation team
set up outside the building,
we went into planning mode,
and was able to get the building surrounded.
[police officer]
[Beasley] But it had to be extreme circumstances
to just have officers enter the building
knowing that he could very well kill the hostage.
That hostage is our number-one priority.
[Gene Molder] When I finally showed up on-scene,
it was just Ms. Pamela Dean and Mr. Tyler in the building.
We were on standby,
and then we allowed our hostage negotiating team
to try and talk him out.
That's all we do, is pretty much sit and wait
and wait and wait.
[police radio alerts]
[police officer 1]
[Sarah Dillingham]
[Weatherly] Our negotiating team
is a nine-person negotiation team.
When we're setting up our negotiations,
we always try go in there with a clear and open mind.
[Dillingham]
Our goal is a peaceful resolution,
and to make sure that everyone comes out alive and safe.
[police officer]
[Weatherly] Our negotiator begins to get the communication
with Mr. Tyler via his cellphone.
In the beginning, when we were communicating with him,
he was very, "Yes, sir. No, sir."
Being overly nice.
Our intel officer was inside of the building next door
and actually listening to Mr. Tyler as he was talking.
While we were on the phone with Mr. Tyler,
he would put us on mute, and then he would go
and talk over to or flip over to another call.
He'd be telling his friends
or whoever he was on the phone with that,
"Yeah, I'm gonna [bleep] kill this [bleep] .
"I'm gonna [bleep] kill anybody that comes in here,"
uh, "You better turn on the news 'cause you're gonna see it on the news."
[police radio chatter]
[police officer]
[Weatherly] Me knowing what Mr. Tyler
was actually saying off the phone
was extremely helpful to me.
I was able to kinda get more of an insight
to what he was doing and how he was feeling.
When you're negotiating,
you don't wanna push it too far.
We just want him to come outside,
we want Pam to be okay, we want him to be okay.
If he needs help, let's get him some help.
Throughout the night, we would have spontaneous calls
where he would actually answer,
and there would be times where he wouldn't communicate at all.
[police officer]
[Weatherly] My negotiator would say, "He's not answering the phone, Captain."
"Okay, well, standby."
I'd get on the loud speaker and I'd say,
"Felix, I need you to talk to me."
I start talking to him, I was like,
"Hey, Felix, my name's John, I'm with the Sheriff's office.
"I just need to know that Pam is okay."
"Yeah, that [bleep] is fine."
He would refer to her as [bleep] and demean her.
When they try to make a person an object,
that will make it easier for them to harm them.
So, I'm trying to make Pam a person to him again.
"No, no, no, I need to know Pam is okay.
"Can you tell me that Pam is okay?"
He said, "Yeah, Pam's fine."
I said, "Let me hear her say it."
So, he literally hands Pam the phone.
Her voice was really calm.
She was not upset, she was not agitated.
Her bravery at that point was...
...it was amazing.
Just hearing her voice, knowing that she's okay
really relieved me,
and I asked her, "Pam, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm not injured. I just wanna go home."
We had the company electric system to cut the power off
to the, uh, business.
You know, trying to make it a little bit more
uncomfortable for Mr. Tyler.
Our ultimate goal was to help this come to a peaceful resolution.
[multiple police officers]
And there were times that he agreed
that he was gonna come out.
[multiple officers]
[Molder] He was about to give up.
Like, our hostage negotiators had him
coming up to the door on the phone.
[multiple officers]
[Molder] He was doing the right thing,
but then turn around, grabbing her,
holding her back at gunpoint,
and then we were back at square one.
The decision had not been made at that point
for the sniper to take any shot
unless there was some imminent danger
that, uh, that he had to,
or deadly force would be justified.
[police officer]
It was kind of like a kick in the butt per se.
I mean, him almost being there and almost giving up
he was about to surrender himself.
Well, I knew that he was communicating to some other person
outside of us.
I also knew that his family was back and to my left
in another parking lot.
So, knowing that they were there,
and to see some of them on the phone,
it was like, "Okay, it might be a good idea or behoove me
to go over here and talk to these people.
[male family member]
[Felix Tyler]
[male family member]
[police officer]
When someone's using their cellphone like that
and everybody, all of his friends, uh, have the phone number,
it becomes very frustrating.
But about 12:30 a.m.,
he just dropped all communication with law enforcement.
[Weatherly] As far as the level of danger that Pam was in...
...she didn't know how close to the end she really was.
[Weatherly] Put in over 200 phone calls
into that phone trying to communicate.
We're just trying to get a response.
[Antle] At the point of the negotiations,
it did seem that he still had his aggressive behavior.
Uh, he's kinda pacing back and forth right next to her.
And, at one point, he grabbed her arm again
and brought her to the back,
and that's where I lost visual of him.
When all else fails,
force becomes necessary, unfortunately.
At that point, the decision was made
that we would introduce a chemical agent into the building.
[Molder] We've been out there since 17:45 that afternoon,
we kinda realized, "All right, it's game time.
"Now we're gonna pick it up, and try to, I guess, rattle his cage."
We had a 40 millimeter grenade launcher.
[grenade firing]
I shot six rounds of less lethal gas in there.
[grenade firing]
When they fired the chemical agent inside the building,
it emitted so much smoke that I couldn't see anything.
I don't even know how they were breathing in there.
Gas doesn't kill you.
It just makes it harder to breathe,
and it feels like you're dying, but you're not.
So, Ms. Pamela,
I was really feeling for her then
because she had no gas mask, no filtration device,
and she was having to suffer through it as much as he did.
The chemical agent did not have the desired effect.
[Molder] We believe he grabbed his sweatshirt,
doused it in water, and was able to cover his face.
That's how he was able to stay in all of that.
I kinda determined, "If he's not coming out now,
"he's not coming out at all, and we're gonna have to go in and get him."
We started planning a rescue operation.
[Molder] The entry team was five people.
Shield man, three riflemen, and myself.
Felix Tyler was, along with Pamela Dean,
in the back room, which was the bathroom,
and the door was closed.
The entry team along with myself
made entry along the left wall.
I can actually see the bathroom door
where he was hiding behind.
And then, that's when somebody said,
"He's coming out, he's coming out."
And I hear a pop...
[loud bang]
...and I hit the ground.
[officer chatter]
One of my teammates just grabs me,
and pulls me out of the building like a ragdoll.
[Beasley] It was gut-wrenching to hear the shots,
and then to hear the team starting yelling
that an officer was down, officer struck.
[Molder] When that bullet hit me,
my life flashed before my eyes.
My daughter, my wife.
It's like, "Oh, God."
They said it was about four millimeters from my artery.
[Beasley] Our medics on the team...
...they were the first ones to start saying,
"It's not that bad, it's not that bad. I think he's gonna be good."
Total relief.
We got Deputy Molder loaded into an ambulance,
and got him transported out of there.
[ambulance siren wailing]
I gave the sniper the green light,
that on the first opportunity he had
to kill Mr. Tyler.
[Antle] At that point, I didn't really know what to feel,
but I had the opportunity
to not only end the scenario,
but that I was gonna be able to save a human life.
After I was green lit,
the sun started rising, which was very beneficial.
I was able to see things more clear.
[Weatherly] I start with the loud speaker again,
"Felix, just need to talk to you.
"Need to make sure that you're okay.
"Make sure Pam's okay."
Hearing that, it elicited a response from Felix Tyler.
[Antle] When he came out of the room,
he had the gun in his left hand.
He had her wrapped around the throat,
using her as a human shield.
He ended up pushing her down.
And then, as he did that, he raised his head up,
and I was able to get a shot off.
[gunshot]
All I heard was just the initial boom.
And it just felt like all the air got pushed out.
Everything just stopped.
It went to a complete slo-mo.
I see him go down, behind the partition,
and I start hearing Pam scream.
The feeling of us having the upper hand and the advantage
for the first time in 14 hours...
Miss Dean was certainly safe.
As we were walking Miss Dean across the parking lot,
the SWAT team reentered the building
and encountered a still alive Mr. Tyler,
up on his knees and was still reaching for the gun laying beside him.
At that point, several members from the SWAT team,
uh, shot and killed Mr. Tyler.
Any time you are able to free a hostage...
very unfortunate about Mr. Tyler
but that is a decision that he made that day.
[dispatcher speaking]
[Sheriff Beasley] He knew the outcome when he started this.
[dispatcher speaking]
Our goal was met when we were able to get Miss Dean out.
[narrator] Pamela Dean is taken to the hospital
where she is found to be shaken but uninjured.
42-year-old Felix Tyler had previously been arrested for domestic violence
but was never convicted.
Officer Gene Molder returned to full duty three weeks after the incident.
[gun fires]
[narrator] The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation looked into the shooting
and no action was taken against the officers involved.
In Southern Illinois,
at the intersection of two major interstates,
is the small city of Marion.
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
When we get a bank robbery in Marion,
that's gonna be not a typical call.
It's gonna be a little bit higher priority.
Everybody's gonna respond.
On this particular robbery,
even our chiefs of police responded to the bank that day.
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
When a suspect is armed with a firearm,
you have to understand that it's likely that they will use it.
They have presented that firearm to take money.
Uh, they're also going to use that firearm to defend themselves
and evade capture.
The suspect had already left on foot.
After reviewing the CCTV,
we were able to determine that the suspect
entered into a tan Chevrolet Colorado.
We were not able to get the license plate,
but it had very distinct damage.
One of the complications of this location
of Peoples National Bank is that it's close to the interstate.
It's not out of the ordinary for a suspect to choose
a location that's near the interstate for a quick getaway.
We put it out to all law enforcement in the region,
which was not productive.
So, at that point, we knew we had to cast our net a little wider,
and created a Facebook post with detailed images of
the suspect vehicle and, uh, the suspect during the bank robbery.
We were contacted by Bloomington, Indiana police department
and advised that they had had a bank robbery very similar, uh, just a few months prior,
and that they used the same vehicle.
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[siren wailing]
[officer speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
[officer speaking]
[woman speaking]
[officer speaking]
[device beeps]
[officer speaking]
Bloomington detectives immediately go to start reviewing video footage,
and determined that the suspect had parked, um, in a truck
um, just east of the bank's location.
A tan Chevrolet Colorado with license plates
um, that were registered to Travis Tarrants.
The warrant was issued for his arrest.
[officer speaking]
[narrator] The day after the Bloomington robbery,
police spot Tarrants' truck and follow it to a gas station.
[officer 1 speaking]
[Travis speaking]
[officer 1 speaking]
[Travis speaking]
-[officer 1] I'm a-- -[officer 2 speaking]
[Travis speaking]
[officer 1 speaking]
[officer] Um...
[Travis speaking]
[officer speaking]
[beeping]
[Travis speaking]
[officer 1 speaking]
[officer 2 speaking]
[Travis speaking]
-[officer 2 speaking] -[Travis speaking]
During that traffic stop,
he attempted to grab an officer's gun and disarm him.
[narrator] Travis Tarrants is charged with armed robbery
and attempting to disarm a police officer.
-[Travis speaking] -[officer] Have a seat.
[Travis speaking]
[narrator] He pleads not guilty.
[Sgt. Dwyer] He was placed initially on a $1,500 bond.
And he was ultimately released on his own recognizance a short time after that.
[narrator] Tarrants fails to show up for his pre-trial hearing.
The judge issues an arrest warrant.
[Sgt. Dwyer] Once I heard the story, you know, it was kind of disheartening that
somebody that had already been arrested for a bank robbery a few months earlier
was here in Marion doing the same thing.
And once we dug into his background even further,
we realized that he had a pretty dangerous past,
with several incidents, including stalking case,
where he was sentenced to five years of departmental corrections.
He had applied for a job at a school.
Travis did not get that job and
once he learnt that he didn't, uh, he began to harass and stalk, um,
the teacher that did get the job.
That's somebody that is vindictive, um, very dangerous.
It's apparent that he is going from state to state robbing banks.
And how many more will he commit before we can find him?
[narrator] 1,900 miles to the west is Fontana, California.
[Sgt. Dwyer] On April 7th,
a California Highway Patrol officer
had located Travis Tarrants' vehicle
in a small mountain town, just outside of Fontana.
And at that time they learnt that his truck had broke down.
Now we know that he is without a vehicle.
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[woman on phone]
[siren wailing]
I was working a-- a, uh, neighboring beat.
I heard the call of a bank robbery in progress
go out over the radio.
[911 operator speaking]
[man on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[man on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[man on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
Typically the approach is to, uh, surround the bank.
I was the first one on scene.
So, I began to watch the front entrance.
-[device beeps] -[dispatcher speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[911 operator speaking]
[man on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[man on phone]
[man speaking indistinctly]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[man speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
I got back into my patrol vehicle
and I drove over towards the, uh, Wendy's, fast food restaurant.
I could see the front door from where I was positioned.
My adrenaline was heightened.
Started to get the chills a little bit.
It's a tense situation.
[man speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[man speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
Once we figured he might be inside of this Wendy's,
I asked responding or assisting patrol units to establish a perimeter.
On the north side of the Wendy's,
I was elevated.
So, I had a somewhat of an aerial view of the business.
What I was trying to pay attention to was
the employees and the customers driving through the drive-through.
In it they were exchanging money and food through the window
as if nothing was going on inside.
[Officer Sein] We didn't know where the suspect was.
It wasn't like there was a scurry of people running outside.
But everything was business as usual.
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[man speaking]
The biggest thing for me was trying to figure out
if he was actually inside the Wendy's.
[Officer Sanchez] We didn't know if he knew we were there either.
There wasn't a bunch of police cars with lights in the area,
which we preferred, to keep it more tactical.
So that way, he wouldn't know we were there yet.
So he would be more reluctant to take a hostage inside the business.
[Officer Sein speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
[phone ringing]
[automated voice speaking]
[call disconnects]
[phone ringing]
[automated voice speaking]
The thought started to cross my mind
that maybe he was inside, um, committing another crime.
[officer 1 on radio]
[officer 2 speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer 1 on radio]
-[Officer Sein] I already-- -[dispatcher speaking]
We have no idea what's going on inside.
You don't know if he's gonna grab somebody
and put a gun to their head or a knife.
You don't know if he's gonna be there to rob that establishment.
We-- We just don't know.
[phone ringing]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
There were three different doors, uh, to the Wendy's
that he could've run out from.
I tried to make sure that we established a perimeter around those different exits.
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[dispatcher speaking]
[woman on phone]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
He emerged with a bag of food and a drink in his hand,
as if he were just a customer.
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
He looked up at me.
We made eye contact,
and he began to walk backwards and then ran back into the business.
There was obvious fear in his eyes.
There were a lot of customers inside of this Wendy's.
I started to become fearful because
now he knew that I knew who he was.
[woman on phone]
[911 operator speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein] We initially don't wanna rush right in there
because of the potential for him to take hostages.
But we're also not going to allow him
to harm or injure anybody inside actively.
So, different scenarios were going through our minds thus far
is what we were gonna do.
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sein speaking]
He made the decision for us.
He actually, uh, emerged from a separate door.
He didn't even, uh, look over at us.
He just-- He just came out and started to run.
He didn't pay any attention to me.
He just continued to run towards the dumpster.
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[officers yelling]
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
He looked shocked.
And he also looked very unpredictable.
I believed he, at that point, was... was desperate.
Desperate to get away.
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[officer speaking]
-[dog barking] -[Officer Sanchez speaking]
The plan from there was just to get him to come out peacefully.
We were in no rush now.
There-- There was nobody else in that dumpster enclosure, we had a perimeter.
So, we could have waited there for hours and hours for him to surrender.
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sanchez] It was pretty evident that he was gonna be caught at this point,
so typically, suspects do give up in that position.
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
I was yelling at him.
I could just see him kinda move his eyes upwards, like, look towards me.
Made me fear that he was...
psyching himself up to do something.
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[dog barking]
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[officer speaking]
[Officer Sanchez speaking]
[Officer Gossert speaking]
I instantly saw the gun in his right hand
and his arm motioning up towards me.
-[Officer Sanchez speaking] -[Officer Gossert speaking]
[dog barking]
[Officer Sanchez] I felt something in my gut and it wasn't a good feeling.
My first thoughts was...
I wanna go home to my family
and I feel like this guy is gonna try to kill me.
[Officer Gossert speaking]
[guns firing]
-[officer speaking] -[dog barking]
It's an extremely, extremely quick decision
that you have to make.
[Officer Gossert speaking]
[guns firing]
Once I saw him emerge with the gun in his hand,
pointed at the officers,
I knew that, unfortunately, we had to take action.
[narrator] Tarrants dies at the scene.
He has $8,000 in cash from the Fontana robbery.
When you're involved in a shooting and a person dies, it's...
it's not something natural for us humans to do, and...
I think everybody processes it different.
Um...
But my initial thoughts is I-- "I took somebody's life."
And, uh, that's something I had to process.
[narrator] Officers later discovered
that the firearm was a replica.
[Officer Sanchez] Why would he do this?
You know?
He didn't have to do that. He didn't--
It wasn't necessary.
[narrator] Tarrants had traveled more than 2,000 miles
across eight states before police finally caught up with him.
[Officer Sein] Police work is a-- is a game of cat and mouse.
Our ultimate goal is to catch suspects
and take 'em into custody.
Unfortunately, it ended in a different scenario.
[Officer Sanchez] I'll have to give all the credit to that witness
because without that witness
we would have no idea that he was inside this Wendy's.
Nobody else knew what this guy had just done at the bank, across the street.
Everybody else is eating their food, just like him, and he blended in.
So, without this witness...
It would have been very, very tough to find this guy.