The moment a Florida robbery and hostage situation was brought to a dramatic end by a sheriff’s sniper was caught on video footage that was just released.
The terrifying event unfolded in Fort Myers on Florida’s west coast when 36-year-old Sterling Ramon Alavache reportedly tried to rob a Bank of America, eventually holding two of the employees at knifepoint while claiming to have a bomb.
With one of the hostages in a headlock and a knife to her throat, the suspect continued the siege until a SWAT team’s sheriff’s sniper ended it all with an incredible shot.
“With remarkable precision, the bullet was fired straight through a computer monitor and into Alavache’s head, killing him instantly,” Daily Mail reported. “The Lee County Sheriff’s Office didn’t say where the sniper shot from, but SWAT members had surrounded the bank to deal with the hostage situation.”
“Video on the sheriff’s office Facebook page showed several deputies standing with their rifles raised, near an entrance to the bank alongside a negotiator who spoke with Alavache seconds before a shot rings out,” the outlet noted. “Video on the sheriff’s office Facebook page showed several deputies standing with their rifles raised, near an entrance to the bank alongside a negotiator who spoke with Alavache seconds before a shot rings out.”
Sheriff Carmine Marceno provided details during a press conference.
“When he presented deadly force like that, our SWAT sniper shot and killed the suspect. We were in fear for her life and her safety,” he said.
“Quickly we were face to face with a male suspect who was armed with a knife,” Marceno added. “He also claimed he had a bomb. He had two hostages at this point, and we tried to negotiate with him continuously..”
“Then the man inside the bank grabbed the woman and put the knife to her throat,” the sheriff continued. “When he presented deadly force like that, our SWAT sniper shot and killed the suspect,’ Marceno said. ‘We were in fear for her life and her safety.”
According to a GuoFundMe page, Alavache suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and manic depression.
“The father-of-three also battled drug and alcohol addiction which only got worse following the death of his wife in 2018,” Daily Mail reported. “In 2022, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease causing progressive shutdown of the body through damage to the central nervous system and it was then he entered a downward spiral of drugs and depression once again.”
