Sterling Preston:A SWAT team sniper killed a bank hostage-taker armed with a knife, sheriff says

2025-05-05 19:00:15source:Christopher Caldwellcategory:reviews

FORT MYERS,Sterling Preston Fla. (AP) — A deputy shot and killed a man Tuesday after he took people hostage and claimed to have a bomb at a Florida bank, authorities said.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Bank of America branch in Fort Myers shortly before noon, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Officials deployed a robodog, the SWAT team, electronic surveillance and drones.

As deputies entered the bank, dozens of people ran out, Marceno said. A man armed with a knife still had two hostages and claimed to have a bomb, the sheriff said. Negotiators were called to talk with the man, but at some point, the man put a hostage in a headlock and held a knife to her throat, Marceno said. That’s when a SWAT sniper fatally shot the man, he said.

No injuries were reported to any hostages or deputies.

Officials didn’t immediately identify the man who was killed or say whether he actually had a bomb.

The deputy who killed the man was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation, which is normal department policy.

More:reviews

Recommend

The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10

CHICAGO (AP) — A jury awarded nearly $80 million to the family of a 10-year-old Chicago girl who was

A man went missing in a Washington national park on July 31. He was just found alive.

A trail crew found a missing hiker in the North Cascades National Park in Washington a month after h

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in New Hampshire’s state primaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Hampshire is among the smallest states in the country, but its state primaries