A sniper shot an armed bank robber in the head at a Bank of America branch in southwest Florida in early February 2024 after he took a hostage through a computer monitor, according to footage released Saturday.
The robbery happened on Feb. 6 at the Bank of America store near the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers. according to Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) The suspect was identified Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36 years old.
A sniper from the LCSO Special Operations Unit (SOU) is seen training his weapon on Alabache. Another officer negotiates with Alabache. LCSO video The footage shows the barrel of the gun resting on another officer’s shoulder, in what Lee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Todd Olmer described as a “team member supported firing position.”
According to police, the initial 911 call reporting the incident showed Alavache jumping over the counter, saying he had a bomb and ordering everyone to leave the bank. Audio files “Put your head on the ground!”, “I don’t want to shoot!” and other screams could be heard, LCSO said.
According to LCSO, Alabache was holding a man and a woman hostage. Surveillance footage shows Alabache taking the woman hostage and appearing to choke her. In the footage, Alabache and the woman were partially obscured from the officer’s view by a computer monitor.
“At some point during the negotiations, he became violent. He began choking one of the hostages and held a knife to her throat,” LCSO Sheriff Carmine Marceno told reporters, according to the video.
“I might fight back. I understand the situation. I empathize. Believe me, you can,” the negotiator told Alabache, according to the video. “And I want to help you. As a parent, I want to help you. 100%. Do you hear me? Come on, Alabache, right? Keep talking to me. Keep talking to me. Tell me what’s going on in your head right now, what your concerns are. I want to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible.”
At that moment, a sniper fired at the suspect, causing him to fall to the floor and appearing to blow a hole in a computer monitor, according to the video, before the two hostages ducked for cover and ran in opposite directions. (Related article: “One of the assailants stole his watch, the other punched him in the face”: Rep. Collins’ staff robbed at gunpoint)
WATCH: Terrifying video captures the moment a sniper shoots through a computer monitor and between two hostages at a Florida bank, taking out the hostage taker pic.twitter.com/jt2anv3fo0
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 9, 2024
“Due to the suspect’s limited exposure, the shooter systematically and deliberately fired shots through the computer monitor, striking the suspect in the center of the forehead, killing him instantly,” Olmer said in the video.
“Shooting through barriers is a skill that is trained and practiced on a daily basis. [the LCSO’s SOU] “A sniper,” Lt. Olmer added.
In the video, officers can be heard saying “Go! Go! Go! Go!” as they rush towards Arabache.
The video shows officers using flash bang grenades as they approached the downed suspect.
According to LCSO, Alavache was a convicted felon with an “extensive criminal history, including drug trafficking, aggravated assault and carrying a concealed firearm from multiple states.”
“How you train will reflect how you perform, and that’s exactly what we’ve been training for,” Sheriff Marceno said. “We train for the worst case scenario.[s] … This is a very unfortunate incident, but I can say that the safety of the two hostages was our number one priority.”
