A bank robber, identified as Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36, was holding a knife to the throat of a female hostage in a Bank of America branch in a shopping area off the US-41 south of Fort Myers when a SWAT team sniper opened fire, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Florida.
Soon after 11 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office, deputies responded to a report, entered the facility, and started negotiating while patrons and employees fled outside.
Accoring to Sherrif Carmine Marceno, “Quickly we were face to face with a male suspect who was armed with a knife and who also claimed he had a bomb. He had two hostages at this point and we tried to negotiate with him continuously.”
The SWAT team member who fired the fatal shot has been placed on administrative leave while an inquiry is conducted, as is customary in situations involving fatalities, according to Marceno.
According to Marceno via a post on facebook, he said the team is “faced with a tough decision today to neutralize an active threat to the public, during a very volatile situation.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the suspect was a known convicted felon with a lengthy criminal history spanning several states, including drug trafficking, violent assault, and carrying a hidden weapon.