GURNEE, Ill. – Two brothers arrested in a Jan. 29 attempted armed robbery at Community Trust CU allegedly tried to buy the same type of pistol used in the massacre at Fort Hood – where 13 were killed and 29 wounded – before embarking on the credit union heist.
The store, Schrank's Smoke 'N Gun in Waukegan, then sold Watkins a Belgian-made Fabrique Nationale handgun, as well as a laser sight, 300 bullets and a holster, according to the FBI. That gun was used by the two men, identified as Rashe Watkins, 33, and his brother Julius, 29, to terrorize four credit union employees that day.
The gunmen bound the four employees and asked them if they were familiar with the Nov. 5, 2009, mass murders at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas, officials say. But the employees told the robber they were unable to open the vault.
Then the police showed up, and one of the brothers got on his cell phone and said "Ju, are you there?" and then, "Oh s----, the cops!" the FBI said.
The foiled robbers fled the credit union and fired at Gurnee officers, but were not captured.
The brothers allegedly committed a similar armed robbery at a National City Bank branch in Long Grove in October, when they ambushed two employees as they prepared to open the bank for the day, according to a news release from the FBI.
Although not charged, the Watkins brothers are suspects in an April 2009 takeover robbery of the Great Lakes in Libertyville.
