Video shows man killed by sniper in Florida bank – NBC 6 South Florida

Recently released surveillance video footage from a Florida bank shows the moment a sheriff’s office sniper takes down a suspect during a possible robbery and hostage situation.

Footage released Saturday by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office shows the Feb. 7 incident at a Bank of America in Fort Myers.

Officials said Sterling Avalanche, 36, was armed with a knife when he entered the bank and made verbal threats before taking two people hostage behind the counter.

When officers arrived, they attempted to negotiate with him, but officers said he became agitated and violent.

“He began to put one of the hostages in a headlock and held the knife to her throat,” said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has released new footage from the February bank hostage situation.

At this point, the SWAT team decided to deploy their sniper and almost immediately shot Avalanche.

The surveillance video shows a group of officers lined up horizontally, with an officer behind them aiming a sniper rifle at them.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the men and women of the police force, of my family members, of the SWAT team. How you train determines how you perform, and that’s what we train for,” Marceno said.