Police sniper kills man holding hostages at knifepoint in Florida bank

Footage has been released of the moment a sniper killed a suspect holding hostages at a Bank of America near Fort Meyers, Florida earlier this year. The .308 caliber bullet that killed 36-year-old Sterling Ramon Alavache was fired through a computer monitor and struck him in the head while he held hostages at knifepoint. 

The two hostages Alavache had detained at knifepoint were not hurt, despite being mere inches from where the shot hit the suspect. He, on the other hand, died instantly. 

Footage of the incident, which took place on February 6, showed Alavache with his arms around a man and woman when suddenly, a hole appeared in a computer monitor in front of them, and he fell to the ground. A shot was taken by a sniper that throught the computer monitor and struck Alavache directly in the forehead.   

At that point, flash bangs were set off and members of a special operations unit entered the room. Once it was confirmed that Alavache was dead, the hostages were escorted out of the building to safety 

During a press conference, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno explained that crews had tried to negotiate with Alavache, but that he instead took the hostages and held a knife up to the woman's throat. He also allegedly claimed to have a bomb. Marceno said the decision to call in the sniper was made out of fear for the hostages' lives. 

"I couldn't be more proud of the men and women of law enforcement today, my family members today, the SWAT team today," he added. "How you train is how you peform, and this is exactly what we trained for. We train for worst case scenario, we train for hostage negotiations and what that mean ... This is a very unfortunate incident, but I will tell you, the two hostages being saved was our top priority." 

According to a GoFundMe set up by Alavache's friends, he was a father of three who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder during his lifetime and struggled with addiction. He had a prior criminal history from multiple counties, per Wareham Week.