Sheriff: Sibling fugitives are 'extremely dangerous'

ANN CURRY, co-host: But let's begin this half hour, with new details in the nation-wide man hunt for two brothers and a sister who police say are armed, dangerous, and on the run. NBC 's Lilia Luciano has the latest on this story. Hey, Lilia. Good morning.

LILIA LUCIANO reporting: Good morning to you, Ann. Authorities say one week ago today, the now notorious siblings sped through this parking lot while shooting at a patrol car before crossing state borders to rob a bank, and they haven't been seen since. A high speed police chase, caught on camera as suspects and siblings Lee Grace , Dylan , and Ryan Dougherty flee, at speeds reaching a hundred miles an hour.

Unidentified Police Officer: Fired several more shots at me.

LUCIANO: Firing more than 20 shots at this patrol car in hot pursuit after the officer tried to pull them over for speeding.

Police Officer: And I got a flat tire too. Seems I'm not going to be able to keep up with them. I can't go any farther.

LUCIANO: Police say these images mark the beginning of the so-called Dougherty Gang 's crime spree.

Sheriff CHRIS NOCCO: It is very clear that these three are on some type of mission.

LUCIANO: Five hours and 212 miles later, authorities say the trio resurfaced at this bank in Valdosta , Georgia , armed with high-powered weapons, shooting up the ceiling and ordering people to drop to the floor. They escaped in the same white Subaru with an undisclosed amount of money. The FBI has since launched a national man hunt for the fugitive trio. And now the faces of 29-year-old Lee Grace , 26-year-old Dylan , and 21-year-old Ryan , are plastered on hundreds of billboards stretching all the way from Florida to Texas . Authorities say Ryan sent his mother a cryptic text message while on the run.

Sheriff NOCCO: He's actually texted her, saying, in the past several days, "At one point we all have to die."

LUCIANO: Their distraught mother, Barbara Bell , spoke to the Associated Press , begging her children to give up. A former next door neighbor says they were no strangers to firearms.

Ms. YVONNE CLANTON: Lots of gunshots, like heavy duty weapons. I don't know what kind, but certainly not a BB gun . You know, really heavy duty weapons.

LUCIANO: But this is not the first time the siblings have had run-ins with the law. Lee Grace , seen in these racy photos posted online, was recently charged with battery and hit-and-run, among other offenses. On a Flickr page under her name, Lee says, she loves to "shoot guys and wreck cars. I'm a redneck and proud of it." Among other likes, "Causing mayhem with my siblings .: Brother Ryan is now a convicted sex offender, sentenced just a day before the high speed chase, for sending hundreds of sexually explicit text messages to an 11-year-old girl. And Dylan , charged with possession of marijuana. Authorities fear the siblings may be carrying an arsenal of weapons after they discovered an elaborate, underground bunker in the Dougherty 's abandoned home.

Sheriff NOCCO: Use everything you can to be safe out there. And remember, if you engage them, you'll be going to a battle. But I promise you, we will win.

LUCIANO: The Pasco County Sheriff says at this point, the trio could be just about anywhere. He warns that they're likely heavily armed and extremely dangerous, and says anyone who crosses their path should immediately call 911. Nobody has been injured yet, Ann , at least not that we're aware of.

CURRY: All right. Lilia Luciano , thank you so much for that. We've got NBC news analyst, Clint Van Zandt , a former FBI profiler, joining us this morning. Clint , good morning.

Mr. CLINT VAN ZANDT: Hi , Ann , good morning.

CURRY: So profile this for us. Why would three siblings go all Bonnie and Clyde ?

Mr. VAN ZANDT: Well, it probably has something to do with one of the brothers being convicted of this -- sending these elicit e-mails to this young child. That may well have been the catalyst. But realize, too, the leader is probably Grace -- Lee Grace , the older sister at 29. She had an ongoing relationship with a college professor. She broke that off to come back and live with her brothers, so she may well be the driving force in these three. But it's interesting, Ann , when you get three siblings bond together, that's very strong glue that holds them together.

CURRY: So what is that glue doing? What is it leading them to? In other words, it looks like it's leading to a shootout, really, based on what we've just heard from Lily -- Lilia 's report. But what is driving them forward? What do they want?

Mr. VAN ZANDT: Well, right now it looks like they just want to get away. They engaged in this shootout with police. Then they robbed the bank to give them enough money to last for a while. But, Ann , these are not professional criminals or professional escape artists. In their fantasy, they may flee to Mexico or flee to Canada. But realize, since 9/11 it's very hard to get across those borders. And now, with the electronic bulletin boards, and with everything that local police , the FBI are doing all across the country, you have to figure they're probably hunkered down someplace, waiting, in their vernacular, maybe for the heat to blow over, so they can rise up, run to another place. But they can't stay down, they can't stay hidden forever. They're going to have to surface. They're going to have to rob again to keep themselves going. That's when they're going to encounter law enforcement. And the police and the FBI , Ann , in all honesty, are going to give them two choices, surrender or die. Let's hope they make the right choice.

CURRY: Well, you actually once worked for the FBI 's Atlanta office, so what kind of perspective can you give us about exactly how they're thinking, how those agents are thinking about they're going to find these three?

Mr. VAN ZANDT: Well, I think every police officer and FBI agent involved in this knows they're dangerous, when they've already shot 20 rounds at a police officer who was chasing them. They fired their guns inside the bank. These are individuals, they're young, they're brazen, they have these automatic and semi- automatic weapons , they're not afraid to use them. And if you just had one of them by themselves, they might be quick to surrender, but three, Ann , they're going to kind of play off each other. So that's why, you know, were I working this case today, it was a single officer or FBI agent, you wouldn't try to make the arrest. This is an arrest that's going to have to be made by a SWAT team where these three are going to have to look out a window and say, 'You know what, there's too many police and FBI . Today is not a good day to die .' And hopefully they put their guns down.

CURRY: You've negotiated. What would you say to these three to make them come in? Anything?

Mr. VAN ZANDT: Yeah, number one I would probably play to Lee Grace . I think she's probably the leader. Again, their mother has asked them to come in, surrender. As an FBI agent, I'd say, "You know what, you shot at a police officer , you shot inside of a bank. You didn't hit anybody, you didn't take that much money. This can be resolved without anybody being hurt right now. You have a choice right now. You can do what your mother asked. You can do what is safe for you. In a couple of years, this will be behind you. Or you can take some terrible action for which you'll probably pay the rest of your life ." They have to understand they have a choice. Hopefully their choice is

that nobody, includesthemselves, is going to get hurt in this case.

CURRY: All right. That's actually very, very right. All right. Clint Van Zandt , thank you so much this morning.

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