New footage from a bank robbery earlier this year shows just how delicate the situation was… with a police sniper making a seemingly impossible shot to rescue hostages.
Lee County Sheriff’s Department officers surrounded a Fort Myers Bank of America after a 36-year-old man attempted to rob the establishment in February. The culprit took 2 hostages inside the bank… using them as shields while communicating with a negotiator.
The Sheriff’s Department released video of the standoff – with a gunman taking aim at the suspect while he was outside… balancing the gun on another officer’s shoulder.
Despite the negotiator’s attempts to calm the robber – he has already heard from the man’s children at one point – the assailant refuses to surrender… and instead holds a knife to the throat of one of the hostages.
This provokes an immediate response from the shooter… who fires, with the bullet traveling through the screen of a desktop computer and right between the two hostages – successfully striking the robber.
As you can see in the footage… the suspect falls to the ground as the hostages escape. Police then arrive at the scene, throwing flash-bang grenades and conducting a sweep.
Lieutenant Todd Olmer of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office added… “Shooting positions like these are regularly trained by shooters for urgent incidents like these. Due to the suspect’s limited exposure, the shooter fired a planned and deliberate shot through a computer monitor , hitting the suspect in the center of the forehead, killing him instantly.”
As the Lee County Sheriff’s Department later noted…the safety of the hostages was their top priority – and thankfully, they accomplished just that. Of course, it was a close call.
Maybe too close for some… but in the end, lives were saved.