Friendly Fire Feared As FBI Agent is Slain

Apr 06, 11:30 AM

Current Headlines: The Associated Press

READINGTON, N.J. - An FBI agent who was killed Thursday in a shootout with three bank robbery suspects might have been shot accidentally by another agent on his stakeout team, the FBI said.

Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, assigned to the Newark office, died after agents confronted three men suspected in a series of armed bank robberies.

"Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement .

Bush and his team were tracking a group of men believed to be responsible for four robberies, the FBI said. In two of the robberies, the suspects had fired assault weapons while inside the bank, the agency said.

When the agents found three suspects outside a bank on Route 22 in Readington around noon Thursday, a shootout ensued and Bush was hit.

Two suspects were captured, and one was being sought in nearby woods, officials said. State and local authorities are searching for the suspect with helicopters and dogs.

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