NEW: Police defend deadly shooting

AVILLA, Ind. (WANE) - Fort Wayne police shot and killed a man they suspected of robbing an Avilla bank with an assault rifle and handgun.

The robbery took place at around one o'clock Wednesday at the People's Federal Bank.  After the robbery, Police say 37-year-old Anthony Taylor carjacked a minivan in the parking lot from a woman and her 2-month old child and drove off with $10,000 in cash.

Around 7:00 p.m., Taylor had coerced family members by displaying a handgun to drive him to Fort Wayne where they dropped him off in the Lima and Dupont Roads area.  Police received information that he could be at the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings and went there to look for him.  Police were told he left in a cab for the Showgirl night club on Coliseum. 

Police were also told he could possibly be wearing body armor and had made threatening statements toward law enforcement officials in Bluffton.  Acting on that tip, police pulled over a cab they suspected had Taylor on East Coliseum Boulevard.  When the driver stopped a gas station, officers ordered the passenger out of the car.

The man got out of the cab with a weapon in one hand, a bag in the other and pulled a hood over his head.  He ignored commands to drop the items and then led police into a nearby alley.  When the man turned towards officers with his gun, Officer Peter Mooney shot three times and hit Taylor once in the chest area, killing him. 

Officers found that Taylor was brandishing a replica handgun. 

In a Thursday afternoon press conference, Chief Rusty York firmly defended Officer Mooney in his actions calling him an "exemplary officer" citing several letters of commendation he has received as a Fort Wayne police officer.  York said," Officers had every reason to believe it was a realy weapon."  Mooney has over four years with the department, also participating as an officer on the Emergency Service Team.

The suspect was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Taylor had previously been convicted and served 8 years in prison for a 1998 motel robbery in Markle, Indiana where shots were fired at officers.  Chief York also had information that Taylor was recently making threats to his parole officer to do harm in Bluffton and also suggested Taylor has aspired through a portion of his life to rob the bank in Avilla.