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New footage from a bank robbery earlier this year shows just how delicate the situation was … with one police sniper taking a seemingly impossible shot to rescue hostages.
Officers for the Lee County Sheriff’s Department 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 sniper steadying his aim onto the suspect while right outside … balancing his gun on another deputy’s shoulder.
Despite the negotiator’s attempts to talk down the robber — he’s heard referencing the man’s children at one point — the offender refuses to surrender … and instead puts a knife to the throat of one of the hostages.
This prompts an immediate response from the sniper … who takes a shot, with the bullet traveling through a desktop computer screen and right in between the 2 hostages — successfully striking the robber.
As you can see in the footage … the suspect falls to the floor as the hostages run off. Police then descend upon the scene, throwing in flash-bang grenades and doing a sweep.
Lt. Todd Olmer of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office added … “Shooting positions like these are trained regularly by snipers for time-critical incidents like these. Due to the suspect’s limited exposure, the sniper took a planned and deliberate shot through a computer monitor, striking the suspect in the center of the forehead, killing him instantly.”
As the Lee County Sheriff’s Department later noted … the hostages’ safety was their top priority — and fortunately, they achieved just that. Of course, it was a pretty close call.
Maybe too close for some … but in the end, lives were saved.