Florida sniper shoots, kills bank robber holding hostages via computer screen: video

Video released by the Florida Sheriff’s Office shows the moment a sniper shot through a computer screen and killed a suspected armed bank robber who was holding hostages.

It all happened on Feb. 6 at a U.S. Bank in Fort Myers, said Sheriff Carmine Marceno of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). Responding officers found the suspect had a knife and claimed he had a bomb while detaining a man and woman.

“We tried to negotiate with him constantly,” Marceno said at an earlier news conference, adding that at one point the suspect held a knife to the hostage’s throat.

It was after the suspect “exhibited deadly force” that an LCSO Special Operations Unit sniper fired a “planned and deliberate shot through a computer screen,” striking the suspect in the center of the forehead and killing him instantly.

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Officers waited moments before a sniper from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit shot a suspected bank robber who was holding hostages on February 6, 2024. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The LCSO circled around the computer screen behind the teller counter that the sniper walked through to hit the suspect in the forehead. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The suspect, identified by LCSO as Sterling Alavache, 36, fell to the ground as the hostages fled.

After the suspect was shot, flashbulbs were used as distraction devices as the special operations unit moved in to eliminate the hostages and confirm the suspect was “no longer a threat,” the sheriff said.

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The suspect was allegedly armed with a knife and told responding officers that he was in possession of a bomb. We see him here, hidden between the two hostages. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Sterling Alavache, 36, had an “extensive criminal history” that included drug trafficking, aggravated assault and carrying a concealed firearm from multiple states, LCSO said. He was a convicted felon. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

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Towards the end of the video, the monitor could be seen with a gaping hole through it, but still functional.

“Shooting through barriers is a skill trained and regularly practiced by snipers with the Lee County Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit,” said Lt. Todd Olmer, LCSO Public Information Officer, in the video shared on Facebook. “The .308 caliber bullet used is specifically selected due to its known ballistic reliability when passing through intermediate barriers.”