Sharpshooter kills hostage-taker at Bank of America in Fort Myers, Lee Sheriff says
A man who held hostages at a Fort Myers Bank of America on Tuesday morning has been shot dead, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.
He said the man entered the bank with a knife about 11 a.m. Within minutes, deputies and other law enforcement arrived.
The bank is at 13099 US Highway 41 S.E./Cleveland Ave., adjacent to Bell Tower Shops.
As deputies entered the bank, dozens of people who had been held hostage by the suspect ran out, but two were forced to remain behind, Marceno said, because the suspect had a knife to one of their throats.
"We were quickly face-to-face with the male suspect with a knife, who claimed he had a bomb," he said.
When the suspect attempted to put one hostage in a headlock, a member of the office's SWAT team fired a fatal shot, striking the man.
"It was a chaotic scene," Marceno said, adding they used all available resources including the SWAT team, electronic surveillance, drones and a robodog that can open doors and talk to suspects. Dozens of deputies and members of the FBI and Florida Highway Patrol also responded to help control the scene.
"I'm proud to say that both hostages are safe," Marceno said. He added that the sharpshooter, as per policy, is on administrative leave.
"How you train is how you perform," he said. "We train for worst-case scenario."
Hours after the bank robbery and hostage-taking, Lee County Sheriff’s Office released the identity of the suspect involved as 36-year-old Sterling Ramon Alavache. Alavache has an extensive criminal history that spans several states, including drug trafficking, aggravated assault, and carrying a concealed firearm, per the release. Alavache was a convicted felon.
"It's a sad day when innocent lives are placed in jeopardy," Marceno said. "I'm beyond grateful none of the victims or my team were injured today."
Bank of America declined to comment on the hostage situation.
"The bank is deferring to local law enforcement for comment as it's an active investigation," Southeast Market media representative Matthew Daily wrote in an email to The News-Press / Naples Daily News.
Around 11:45 am, 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.
It was a first-ever lockdown for Grimaldi’s Pizzaria employees Brandy Seeley and Janna Minor. After their restaurant got the call, they sat in Grimaldi’s with the doors locked, keeping themselves and their patrons safe. The lockdown lasted more than an hour, they said.
“We knew we had to do it,” Seeley said. “We were doing it even before we got that phone call.”
“Shocked,” she said, when asked how she felt.
“Shocked that this could happen here. In Lee County,” Minor echoed.
Patron Marbel Casanova comes to Bell Tower every other day or so to get a boba tea. She normally comes around 4 p.m. but decided to switch it up Tuesday and went around noon.
She arrived after the situation began, but she got a call from her mother, saying there was a man with a mask at the Bank of America in the Bell Tower Plaza.
She immediately began wondering what was going on, she said.
“I don’t know if that’s right, but that’s crazy. I wanted to find out what was going on.”Crime scene tape surrounded the bank, adjacent to Bell Tower Shops, and included a nearby Dave & Buster's.As authorities worked to contain the scene, authorities closed off one lane at U.S. 41, forcing a detour on Cypress Lake Drive.Scores of motorists were forced to use both lanes to make U-turns, producing a symphony of horns.
Authorities quickly removed bystanders who pulled their cellphones out and approached the vicinity of the taped scene, saying it was a “very active scene.”
As the area returned to normal, a Bank of America employee on a higher floor said a customer alerted him.
Employee Louis Nagle stood beside the taped scene on his scooter, taking it all in. He recorded video on his cellphone as deputies continued to clear the scene, around 1:30 p.m.
“We got a call from somebody trying to get into the parking lot and (they) said there were cop cars there, couldn't get inside,“ he said.
News-Press photojournalist Andrew West and Live Editor Stacey Henson contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida sheriff: SWAT sniper killed hostage taker at Fort Myers bank
