{"id":104204,"date":"2024-02-07T12:03:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T12:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/suspect-in-hostage-incident-at-florida-bank-shot-and-killed-by-swat-sniper-sheriff\/"},"modified":"2024-02-07T12:03:23","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T12:03:23","slug":"suspect-in-hostage-incident-at-florida-bank-shot-and-killed-by-swat-sniper-sheriff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/suspect-in-hostage-incident-at-florida-bank-shot-and-killed-by-swat-sniper-sheriff\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspect in hostage incident at Florida bank shot and killed by SWAT sniper: Sheriff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Lee County Sheriff’s Office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — A suspect in a hostage incident at a Florida bank was shot and killed by a SWAT sniper, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Two hostages were unharmed in what Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno called a “chaotic scene.”<\/p>\n

The incident unfolded at a Bank of America in Fort Myers shortly after 11 a.m. ET. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“We received a call of a bank robbery in progress with multiple hostages,” Marceno said during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The suspect was armed with a knife and claimed to have a bomb, Marceno said. He was holding two people hostage, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office responded within minutes, deploying SWAT, drones and a robotic dog, Marceno said. Deputies secured the building while hostage negotiations began, he said.<\/p>\n

At some point during the negotiations, the suspect “became physical,” Marceno said.<\/p>\n

“He started to put one of the hostages in like, a headlock and he had the knife to her throat,” Marceno said.<\/p>\n

A SWAT sniper, fearing for the life of the female hostage, shot and killed the suspect, Marceno said.<\/p>\n

None of the hostages nor responding law enforcement were injured, Marceno said.<\/p>\n

“I’m proud to say that both hostages are safe,” Marceno said. “Their safety was paramount.”<\/p>\n

The suspect was identified by the sheriff’s office as Sterling Ramon Alavache, 36.<\/p>\n

The SWAT sniper involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave, per standard protocol for the sheriff’s office, Marceno said.<\/p>\n

Marceno did not release any further details due to the open investigation.<\/p>\n

It is unclear who the victims were or how long the hostage negotiations lasted.<\/p>\n

A Bank of America spokesperson deferred comment to local law enforcement due to the active investigation.<\/p>\n

John Sugben told ABC Naples, Florida, affiliate WZVN-TV he was inside the bank at the time of the hostage incident.<\/p>\n

“There was some commotion and the person I was working with in the bank went out and talked to someone and she said, ‘C’mon, let’s go, we gotta leave,” he said.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee County Sheriff’s Office (FORT MYERS, Fla.) — A suspect in a hostage incident at a Florida bank was shot and killed by a SWAT sniper, authorities said. Two hostages were unharmed in what Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno called a “chaotic scene.” The incident unfolded at a Bank ofRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}