Family, Friends Of Bank Robbery Hostage Mourn Her Death
STOCKTON (CBS13) - Friends and family are mourning the death of a hostage who was killed after a bank robbery, high-speed chase and police shootout today in Stockton.
She was a wife and a mother.
It was at the Bank of the West on Hammer Lane in Stockton that the daughter of Misty Holt-Singh waited to hear what happened to her mother. Misty was taken hostage by three men who had just robbed the bank.
Friends and family of the victim wrote sympathy messages her Facebook page.
One read: "Misty, you are an awesome woman & my heart goes out to you and your family."
Another read: "I can't believe this. Rip misty."
Within minutes after the pursuit ended, we spoke to Misty's brother-in-law, Ajit Singh. At that time, he did not know her fate.
"It will be a relief once I know what is going on. As far as I know, my sister-in-law and everybody else that was involved is OK," said Ajit Singh.
After the interview, Singh rushed back to his niece. Misty's 12-year-old daughter was stranded at the bank after her mother was taken hostage by the three gunmen.
Minutes later, Misty was shot and killed inside the blue SUV.
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"This is not something you want to hear in the middle of the day. You don't wake up or go to your job thinking something like this is going to happen to you," said Singh.
Having grown up in Stockton, there has been a great deal of outpouring support for her on Facebook.
She was not the only one taken during the pursuit. Two others were shot and thrown or jumped from the SUV as it fled from the bank.
One of the other hostages was identified by a family friend as Kelly Huber. The Ford Explorer used in the chase is registered to Huber, and neighbors confirm she works at the bank. They describe her as very friendly and one of the nicest people on the block.
"Yeah, my heart kind of dropped. I am concerned. I want to know what happened and if she was involved and if she is OK. I just hope that everything is OK with her," said Amber Harbor, one of Huber's neighbors.
This marks the third time the bank has been robbed in the past two years. In 2012, a Stockton man pleaded guilty to robbing the bank along with five other banks in the Central Valley and Bay Area.
On January 31, 2014 two gunmen robbed the bank, and similar to today's robbery, fled in an employee's car. Officers were able to find the car, but not the suspects.
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