TEARS AND DISBELIEF : RESIDENTS GATHER TO HONOR SLAIN T.O. BANK TELLER.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writers

Bernice Altschul recalled on Tuesday opening an account at Western Financial Bank the day Monica Leech started work there, and the congratulations and best wishes heaped on the new employee.

She also remembered how Leech greeted her by name every time she came into the bank. And Altschul shared her recollections of Leech when she stopped by the closed bank office on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, joining those who paid tribute to the popular teller, who was killed in cold blood during a takeover robbery Monday.

``She was a very giving and understanding person,'' said Altschul, herself the victim of a holdup in Studio City about two years ago. ``She had feelings.''

Clif Robertson of Simi Valley had never met Leech, but he took time from his job at the Saturn auto dealership on Thousand Oaks Boulevard to add a small bouquet to the memorial of flowers and candles placed outside the door.

``It could have been my wife,'' said Robertson, barely able to control the tears welling in his eyes.

Throughout Thousand Oaks, shock turned to sadness, fear and rage for residents reeling from the execution-style slaying of the churchgoing mother of two children by two masked gunmen.

``It's something you don't think of happening here,'' said Karen Althaus as she shopped at Janss Marketplace with her 9-month-old daughter, Alex. ``It put a little reality into our perfect little world.''

Leech, 39, was shot as a male bank employee emptied cash into a canvas bag held by one of the suspects, officials said. She and another female employee were kneeling by the safe at the time, and authorities reiterated Tuesday that the slaying was unprovoked.

With the suspects still at large, residents like Althaus said they have begun taking security precautions that seemed unnecessary - until Monday morning.

``I battened down the hatches last night,'' said Althaus, who moved to Thousand Oaks five years ago from the San Fernando Valley, largely because of the city's reputation as a safe haven.

Jeanine Price, 38, said she felt the city's loss of innocence symbolized by Leech's slaying.

``It scares me the way we all have a false sense of safety and security about living in this area,'' Price said. ``It's like the trouble they're having in the (San Fernando) Valley is coming our way.''

John Glassco, from neighboring Agoura Hills, said the local robbery reminded him of the recent North Hollywood bank heist, in which two heavily armed gunmen were killed in a nationally televised firefight with police.

Glassco, 47, said Leech's death left him shocked and saddened.

``Why would they shoot the person if she was cooperating?'' he said. ``It just sort of makes you enraged, like you want to go out and hunt those guys down.''

Paul Smith, a 40-year-old movie theater manager in Thousand Oaks, said he would also like to get his hands on the killers.

``To kill a family lady who's done nothing to these guys is a sin beyond belief,'' he said.

Smith said he explicitly told his three children, ages 9 to 14, to come home right after school Tuesday and stay inside.

``I want to keep a very tight rein on my family until these guys are caught,'' he said.

Some Thousand Oaks residents like Ann Harvey, who has lived in the city for 25 years, say it's inevitable that the crime rate will rise in step with the population, which is about 110,000.

``I think it's what you expect when you become a big city,'' said Harvey, 55.

The slaying was on the minds of many people who stopped by the Frontpage Newsstand in the Janss Marketplace on Tuesday, said owner Lisa Lubin, 35.

``They were saying Thousand Oaks is becoming a bad place to live, and now they're beginning to lock their doors,'' she said.

But outside the nearby Hart's Jewelers, owner Jim Koven said it's premature to throw in the towel on Thousand Oaks.

``I still think we're one of the safest cities in the country,'' said Koven, 56. ``I think what we saw yesterday was an aberration.''

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Zachary Wendorf, 3, and Kelli Wendorf lay flower bouquets next to others outside the door of the Western Financial Bank office in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday.

(2-3--color) Above, bunches of flowers hang on the door to the bank, with the one at right bearing a card from ``new customer Harvey Youngman'' honoring slain teller Monica Leech. Bank employee Matt Longstreet, right, stands inside the branch office behind a ``Temporarily Closed'' sign directing customers to the Encino office.

(4) Chief Deputy Bob Brooks updates the media on the crime Tuesday.

(5--ran in CONEJO edition only) Atlas Chiropractic employees, from left, Denise Messina, Debbie Webb and Kimberly Swartzburg console each other.

Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News