FBI: Agent may have been shot dead by colleague

Story Highlights

• FBI agent may have been accidentally killed by friendly fire, bureau said
• Barry Lee Bush, 52, died in attempted arrest of three bank-robbery suspects
• Two men in custody; one still being sought
• Loaded assault rifles, ski masks found in car

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Preliminary information suggests an FBI agent killed Thursday during an attempted arrest of three bank-robbery suspects in New Jersey may have been accidentally shot by an another agent, the bureau said in a statement.

Barry Lee Bush, 52, a special agent assigned to the Newark, New Jersey, FBI office, was fatally wounded during a "dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said.

"Special Agent Bush and his team were in pursuit of heavily armed serial bank robbers who are believed to be responsible for four bank robberies," according to a statement from the bureau. "In two of those robberies, the suspects, armed with assault weapons, fired rounds while inside the bank." (Watch suspects being arrested and a witness describe the shootout )

Asked whether the suspects fired at agents, FBI Special Agent Pedro Ruiz told reporters, "As far as I can tell you, no," but added that the investigation was ongoing and the events were still being sorted out. "As you can imagine, we've got a number of interviews being conducted."

The incident occurred in a parking lot across the street from a PNC Bank branch in Readington, New Jersey, about 45 miles outside New York.

Prosecutors filed charges in federal court Thursday night against three people in the attempted robbery. Wilfredo Berrios, 28; Michael Cruz, 21; and Francisco Herrera-Genao, 22, all of New Brunswick, New Jersey, were charged with attempted armed bank robbery and with use and carrying of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The charges carry a penalty of 35 years in prison upon conviction, according to a spokesman for federal prosecutors.

Berrios and Cruz were in custody Thursday, while Herrera-Genao was still being sought, spokesman Michael Drewniak said in a statement.

According to the complaint filed against Berrios, Cruz and Herrera-Genao, authorities noted similarities in the four bank robberies, on February 8, February 16, March 2 and March 16. During those robberies, two people were injured by ricocheting bullets and several people were held at gunpoint, the complaint says.

Following the trail

After the March 2 robbery, authorities located the suspects' rented car in the parking lot of a shopping center. Video surveillance showed the suspects switching cars and abandoning their getaway vehicle. Investigators, using surveillance video, identified Barrios as the person who rented the car and Herrera-Genao as the person who accompanied him, the complaint says.

Investigators also used cell phone records to track Berrios' location. They found he was near each of the robbed banks before robberies and that he left the area after the robberies, the complaint says.

Authorities placed Berrios under surveillance Thursday and saw him picking up other males in a white Acura. Later, the Acura met up with a black Honda that had been reported stolen, and both headed toward the bank. At the PNC Bank, the Acura parked in a nearby parking lot and the Honda parked at the bank.

Loaded rifles, ski masks found in car

"The FBI believed that the individuals in the Honda and Acura were preparing to rob the PNC Bank," the complaint says. As agents approached the Honda, one of the individuals inside -- later identified as Herrera -- fled into a wooded area. Berrios, who was also in the Honda, was arrested. Inside the car, the complaint says, two loaded assault rifles and two ski masks were found.

As agents approached the Acura, the complaint says, shots were fired "and a special agent of the FBI was shot and subsequently died." Cruz, who was inside the Acura, later admitted he was planning to participate in the attempted robbery of the PNC Bank.

A fourth man, Efrain Lynn, 21, also of New Brunswick, was charged in a separate complaint in connection to the March 16 armed robbery of a Bank of America Branch in South Brunswick, New Jersey. According to the federal complaint, Cruz identified him as a gunman behind a ski mask and a trench coat. Lynn was arrested Thursday on a bench warrant unrelated to the bank robberies, Drewniak said. He is charged with armed bank robbery, which carries a penalty of 25 years in prison upon conviction.

While charges were only filed in Thursday's attempted robbery and the March 16 robbery, "other charges are expected to follow."

The three in custody would likely make an initial court appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark, Drewniak said.

Close to 100 officers from several agencies were participating in the search for the remaining robbery suspect, New Jersey State Police Capt. Al Della Fave said.

After Thursday's incident, authorities closed U.S. Route 22, a major artery in front of the bank, and a mass of FBI agents and police flooded the scene.

Bush joined the FBI in 1987 in Kansas City, Missouri, and transferred to Newark in 1991, the FBI said. He is survived by his wife and two children.

The previous FBI agent killed in what the bureau termed a "result of adversarial action," died after sustaining gunshot wounds during an undercover drug investigation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1996.

CNN's Zak Sos and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.