'Paralyzing': Patron recalls moment man entered Bank of America, led sniper to fire
"I need to call my mom," are the six words Nils Graham recalls he heard the perpetrator of a recent armed incident at a local bank say repeatedly before authorities swarmed the building.
Graham, 85, who said he's lived locally for 10 years and owns property in Southwest Florida since the 1960s, explained he heard Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36, repeat the words at least three times before an employee from Bank of America at Bell Tower, 13099 U.S. 41 S.E., approached and asked him to leave.
As he said he needed to call his mother, according to Graham, Alavache attempted to plug his cellphone into a nearby electrical outlet.
Alavache, roughly 8 feet from Graham, according to his witness account, walked in a 3-square-foot area in loops repeating the phrase, Graham said. A manager walked Alavanche out and warned him the bank would call authorities.
Soon after, Alavache returned to the Bank of America and said he had a bomb, prompting five patrons in the lobby to walk out. Graham said he escorted another patron out.
Graham said he remembers hearing Alavache say, "I got a bomb," later adding he threatened he'd kill everyone inside the bank.
"When he said that, all the people in the lobby, including myself, we walked out," Graham said. "We walked out of the lobby and I went and sat in my car."
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Graham said he feared for his life.
"If he's got a gun, I'm dead. He's going to shoot and try to kill me," Graham said he thought to himself. "I will never forget it."
As he sat in his car, Graham said he saw at least a dozen Lee County Sheriff's Office cruisers arrive.
"Amazingly, they had the bank surrounded with police cars," Graham said.
'Paralyzing' experience at Bank of America
When asked if he could describe what he saw and heard Tuesday in a few words, Graham said he could only think of one word: paralyzing.
Graham, who lives in the Seven Lakes Golf & Tennis Community, across from the Bell Tower shopping center, said he typically goes to the bank once or twice a week.
"For me to sit there, I knew instantly this guy had a problem," Graham said. "Because it's not normal to walk and say, 'I got to call my mom.'"
Graham said it took him about a minute to identify the red flags as Alavache walked in circles.
Picking up the pieces
Graham said as the incident unfolded, employees at the bank were working on his debit card, which he left behind.
"I went over there [Thursday] morning to get my debit card and the police are still there," Graham said. The bank remained closed Thursday afternoon.
Minutes until sniper shoots
Graham, who said he continued to watch Lee County sheriff's deputies working the hostage-taking from his car, estimated it took about seven minutes until a sniper shot and killed Alavache.
Sheriff Carmine Marceno on Tuesday afternoon said that as deputies entered the bank, dozens of people who had been held hostage by Alavache ran out, but two remained behind. He said Alavache had a knife to one of their throats.
When Alavache attempted to put one hostage in a headlock, a member of the sheriff's office's SWAT team fired a fatal shot, Marceno said.
The sheriff's office confirmed Alavache's involvement hours after the incident after they could notify his next of kin.
Bank of America has declined to comment on the situation.
What happened Tuesday?
Around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bell Tower sent out a text message to store owners and managers, alerting them to an "isolated incident" at the Bank of America. The message asked workers to avoid the north entrance of the mall.
But some employees also got an automated phone call, alerting them to an emergency and urging them to lock the doors of their stores and restaurants, and shelter in place.
Crime scene tape surrounded the bank, adjacent to Bell Tower Shops and included a nearby Dave & Buster's.
Meanwhile, as authorities worked to contain the scene, authorities closed off one lane at U.S. 41, forcing a detour on Cypress Lake Drive.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: 'I need to call my mom,' Fort Myers Bank of America perpetrator said
