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Stockton Divided One Year After Bank Robbery Shootout Claimed Misty Holt-Singh's Life

STOCKTON (CBS13) — On a night to remember the life of a woman whose life was taken one year ago after a Stockton bank robbery, those returning to the spot where Misty Holt-Singh died in a hail of bullets described a powerful loss.

On July 16, 2014, three suspects came into a Bank of the West branch in Stockton and demanded cash. When police arrived, they took three hostages, including Holt-Singh, and raced through nearby neighborhoods.

In the end, the suspects got into a shootout with Stockton Police. Two of them were killed. The third survived by using Holt-Singh as a human shield. She died after being hit by dozens of police bullets. A fourth suspect was arrested later, accused of driving the robbers to the bank.

The tragedy of that day is still fresh in the minds of people living in Stockton.

"I just can feel Misty in the overwhelming sadness," said her friend Erika Thomas. "I just wanted to be here for Paul and the kids."

Misty's husband Paul arrived for the memorial and was quickly embraced.

"It's not just today, it's on a daily basis," he said. "I run into people, and somebody just drove by and said God bless—that is the spirit of Misty."

Singh said Thursday was a day for all to embrace the ones they love.

"My message is, love today. Don't procrastinate," he said. "You never know what's going to happen. I was fortunate to live a true love story."

This Stockton community is still divided about how Misty's life ended. Stockton Police call the incident an unprecedented rolling active-shooter scenario, while Singh's family attorneys call it unreasonable and excessive force.

"Hopefully that will never happen again," Thomas said.

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