HOUSTON -- In the tiny town of Hempstead, there was a shootout between police and a suspect that ended in the town park.

The suspect was caught.

But often they aren’t. And recently investigators have noted bank robberies in our area are on the rise.

They happen nearly every day and often the suspects that commit these crimes are getting more aggressive.

 “It worries me as an investigator and it worries me as a citizen too,” said Special Agent Brian Ritchie, who heads the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force.

He says there are currently two dangerous crews out there that are robbing banks inside of grocery stores.

“And this one crew is coming in the middle of the day and taking down the entire store with mothers and children in there,” said Ritchie. “And the last one they did, they had an AK-47 and they discharged a round into the ceiling.”

This week, the FBI released a video from a bank robbery in Manvel. If you watch closely, the suspect takes an employee hostage and puts a gun to her head.

Bank robberies haven't been talked about like this since the early 1990's when the “Polo Shirt Bandit” robbed 38 Houston-area banks and reportedly stole more than $1 million.

His name was William Guess and he committed suicide in 1996 when Harris County deputies surrounded him just after his last heist.

Guess lived outside of Waco and the task force believes many of the robbers today come to Houston from somewhere nearby just to rob banks.

But why are they happening so frequently now?

“I think part of that goes to the economy and there’s not enough jobs,” said Ritchie.

Ritchie has interviewed the suspects that have been caught and confirmed these hard economic times are a factor.

“And they'll tell you exactly that. I mean they say my kids were sick, I didn't have any insurance because I lost my job (as reasons to rob banks),” Ritchie said.

Hard times and scary times for banks, investigators and bank customers across the area.