LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) –Newly released bodycam footage shows the negotiation efforts between Florida authorities and a suspect during a hostage situation at a Bank of America on Tuesday.
“You are about to view the body-worn camera footage from within the Bank of America robbery and hostage incident that occurred yesterday,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
Deputies and the FBI were dispatched around 11 a.m. to a bank robbery at the Bank of America in the area of Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers. Upon arrival, LCSO said dozens of people fled from the bank as they secured the area.
According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, law enforcement officers immediately began negotiating with the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Sterling Alavache, who took two hostages and threatened them with a knife while saying he had a bomb.
LCSO said the moment the suspect threatened the hostage’s life, a SWAT sniper shot and killed him. Both hostages, who are bank employees, were not harmed during the incident.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office released bodycam footage that showed officials talking to Alavache.
The video shows the authorities talking to the man from outside of the bank, but Sheriff Marceno said the footage “depicts only a small portion of the hostage negotiation efforts that took place.”
According to the sheriff, the suspect was placing hostages in “imminent danger” by putting one of the hostages in a headlock and holding a knife to her throat during the portion of the footage.
“Keep talking to me, keep talking to me,” the officer said. “You let me know what’s going through your head right now. What concerns do you have? I wanna make sure you’re the most relaxed.”
After the officer stops talking, a pop can be heard.
“In an effort to preserve the lives of the hostages and general public, the decision was made to neutralize the threat. Our Special Operations Unit and Hostage Negotiations Team train regularly together so that all options are available when situations like this arise,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
Authorities didn’t say where the sniper shot from, but SWAT members had surrounded the bank.
“I didn’t even know the county had this,” local radio host Charlie Lopez — who observed the scene as he got lunch near the Bank of America branch — told a local news outlet. He watched the sniper shooting from his car and provided details to his Facebook followers.
“You see, in the video, it almost looks like they lift up the sniper in the air,” he said. “Then they have a battering ram. I’ve never experienced seeing all of Lee County’s arsenal. They had drones, they had cameras.”
The involved deputy has been placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation, which is normal department policy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
