Three of the suspects, two men and a woman, entered the First Priority Bank branch at 4702 Cortez Road W. about 9:40 a.m. A fourth suspect was the apparent getaway driver.
Two of the suspects in the bank were wearing baseball caps and bandanas, said bank president Kevin Hale.
"They came in and asked everyone to drop to the floor," Hale said.
One of the suspects - who was not wearing a disguise - then jumped the teller counter and took an undisclosed amount of cash, he said.
The two suspects arrested were identified as Obrian V. Hawks, 22, and Maxchella P. Zidor, 17, both of Orlando. Zidor was charged with armed robbery, and Hawks was charged with armed robbery and attempted carjacking.
Bradenton Police had earlier reported that three suspects were in custody.
The two suspects still on the loose, a man and a woman, were not identified.
Palmetto High and Palmetto Elementary schools were placed on lockdowns about 10 a.m. as a chase and manhunt headed north of the Manatee River, according to school district officials. Also on lockdown were Lincoln Middle School, Manatee School for the Arts and Palmetto Christian School.
The lockdown was lifted at 1:21 p.m.
At Eighth Avenue West and 17th Street West in Palmetto, a Buick LeSabre ran off the road and crashed into a metal pole in the parking lot of Varnadore Auto used car lot. The occupants abandoned the car and took off on foot, according to officers on the scene.
That intersection is just down 17th Street from Palmetto High School.
At the intersection, the first suspect out of the Buick LaSabre ran up to a car driven by a woman southbound on Eighth Avenue, witness Bruce Vardadore told the Bradenton Herald.
Varnadore said the gunman was yelling at the woman driver to get out of the car. She didn't and drove on without a shot being fired, said Varnadore, who was watching the scene from the auto shop's office.
After the scene at the intersection, two more suspects hopped from the Buick LaSabre, and the three of them began running north.
Lewis said Hawks and Zidor were captured in a residential neighborhood of single-family homes east of Eighth Avenue West and 19th Street West.
At noon, there were no reports of gunfire. But a Bradenton Herald reporter who inspected the Buick LeSabre from behind yellow police tape said the back right door appeared to have four bullet holes.
At Varnadore Auto, the Buick LeSabre ran off Eighth Avenue West to the right and hit a metal pole just off the roadway, crunching the right front tire and wheelwell. Just seconds earlier, the LeSabre sideswiped a southbound Nissan Maxima. With that damage from the crash, the LeSabre was undriveable.
Bruce Varnadore said he called 911 when the crash occured and described the scene of the suspects getting out and one of them trying to steal the woman's car at gunpoint.
