A suspected robber holding two folks hostage at knifepoint inside a Florida financial institution was shot and killed Tuesday by a regulation enforcement sniper throughout a tense standoff, authorities mentioned.
The suspect, recognized by the Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace as Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36, had an extended prison historical past, which included drug trafficking, aggravated assault, and carrying a hid firearm from a number of states, officers mentioned.
Deputies responded to a Financial institution of America department positioned close to Bell Tower Retailers in Fort Meyers simply after 11 a.m. following a name a few financial institution robber holding a number of hostages, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno instructed reporters, alongside the FBI.
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As deputies ran contained in the financial institution to safe the realm, dozens of individuals ran out, Marceno mentioned.
Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36, was holding two folks hostage throughout a tense standoff inside a Fort Meyers, Fla., financial institution with regulation enforcement when a sniper shot and killed him. (Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace)
”Rapidly, we had been face-to-face with a male suspect who was armed with a knife,” the sheriff mentioned. ”He additionally claimed he had a bomb.”
Alavache had two hostages and authorities tried to provoke negotiations, Marceno mentioned. At one level, he allegedly put one of many hostages in a headlock and put a knife to her throat.
”When he offered lethal pressure like that, our SWAT sniper shot and killed the suspect,” Marceno mentioned. ”We had been in worry for her life and her security.”
Each hostages had been secure, he mentioned. The SWAT sniper will likely be positioned on administrative depart pending an investigation into the taking pictures.
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”It is a unhappy day when harmless lives are positioned in jeopardy because of the mindless acts of others,” Marceno later mentioned in a press release posted to social media. ”My relations had been confronted with a tricky determination right this moment to neutralize an lively risk to the general public throughout a really unstable scenario.
”Let this function a reminder of how essential it’s to stay vigilant. I am past grateful not one of the victims or my staff had been injured right this moment.”