SWAT team sniper kills bank hostage-taker armed with knife, sheriff says

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A deputy shot and killed a person Tuesday after he took folks hostage and claimed to have a bomb at a Florida financial institution, authorities stated.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace responded to a Financial institution of America department in Fort Myers shortly earlier than midday, Sheriff Carmine Marceno stated throughout a information convention Tuesday afternoon. Officers deployed a robodog, the SWAT group, digital surveillance and drones.

As deputies entered the financial institution, dozens of individuals ran out, Marceno stated. A person armed with a knife nonetheless had two hostages and claimed to have a bomb, the sheriff stated. Negotiators have been known as to speak with the person, however sooner or later, the person put a hostage in a headlock and held a knife to her throat, Marceno stated. That is when a SWAT sniper fatally shot the person, he stated.

No accidents have been reported to any hostages or deputies.

Officers did not instantly determine the person who was killed or say whether or not he truly had a bomb.

The deputy who killed the person was positioned on administrative go away, pending an investigation, which is regular division coverage.