Bank Robbery Suspect Is Shot to Death : Crime: Police in cars, helicopter pursue three men suspected of taking $2,000 from Fountain Valley bank whose vehicle crashes, and Anaheim officer opens fire on armed man.

ORANGE — A police officer shot and killed a bank robbery suspect Monday after the man, with two accomplices, led police on a chase across the middle of the county, crashed into a freeway guardrail and then pointed a gun at officers, authorities said.

The incident began at about 2:17 p.m. when two men, both carrying handguns and wearing ski masks, entered the Bank of America on Harbor Boulevard in Fountain Valley, and one yelled, “Everybody down! Give me money!” said FBI spokesman Gary Morley.

While one robber waited at the door, the other walked down the line of tellers, taking cash from three tellers and two customers who had just finished transactions.

After gathering an estimated $2,000, both men fled in a waiting car driven by a third suspect, police said.

By 2:24 p.m., a police helicopter tracked the car near Haster Street and Chapman Avenue in Garden Grove, with the help of an electronic tracking device that apparently was concealed with the stolen money.

The suspects eventually sped onto the southbound Santa Ana Freeway at Katella Avenue. Chased by half a dozen police units from several agencies and the helicopter, the suspects turned off the freeway at State College Boulevard, but crashed into the guardrail.

Their left front tire burst, and they were then rammed from behind by an Anaheim police car.

All three men began to get out of the car, Lt. Timm Browne of the Orange Police Department said. As they did, the man in the left rear passenger seat lifted a gun and pointed it at police, he said. An Anaheim officer opened fire, killing the armed man.

The two other suspects then remained in the car and were arrested.

A handgun was recovered on the dead man’s body and another weapon was found at the scene, Browne said.

Late Monday, police had not released the names of the suspects, including that of the dead man.

The two arrested men were identified only as a 22-year-old who gave police addresses in Santa Ana and Los Angeles and a 21-year-old from Santa Ana.

During the chase, the helicopter officers saw the suspects tossing several items along the freeway, which police believed could be weapons, Browne said.

“Those things might actually turn out to be the ski masks, but we are not sure at this time. That part of the investigation is still continuing,” Browne said.

Police would not say whether any money was recovered.

Both men are being held on suspicion of armed robbery, although the charges could be upgraded, possibly to murder, pending the results of the investigation, Browne said.

After the shooting, police sealed the off-ramp and closed several nearby streets, creating a major traffic jam for afternoon commuters on the Garden Grove and Santa Ana freeways.

“There’s traffic all over the place,” said Brian Dixon, an employee at the Residence Inn on State College Boulevard. “It’s backed up on Chapman and State College. We were wondering what was going on.”

Similar bank robberies, called “takeover” crimes because the robbers take over a bank, jumped from 140 in 1991 to 448 last year in Southern California, FBI officials said.

Overall, bank robberies in Southern California also set a new record, topping 2,500 for the first time, which accounted for more than one of four bank robberies nationwide.

Times staff writer David A. Avila and correspondent Shelby Grad contributed to this report.