Five people are shot dead during ‘hostage situation’ after a gunman opened fire inside bank 

Police have identified the 21-year-old gunman suspected of killing at least five people when he opened fire inside a Florida bank on Wednesday afternoon.   

Zephen Xaver allegedly called 911 to report that he’d fired shots withing the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring just after 12.30pm.  

After a standoff with officers, Xaver eventually surrendered to SWAT members and was placed under arrest. Video shows him being perp-walked in handcuffs through the parking lot to a police vehicle. 

Police have not yet determined a motive in the ‘senseless murders’, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised swift justice for the victims, whose names are being withheld pending family notification.   

Authorities say Xaver was a correctional officer trainee hired by the Avon Park Correctional Institution in November, but he resigned on January 9 without an explanation. 

 

Zephen Xaver has been identified by police as the 21-year-old gunman who allegedly opened fire inside a Florida bank on Wednesday afternoon, killing five people. In the photo above taken by police after his arrest, Xaver is wearing a shirt depicting four Grim Reapers on horseback

Officers responded to the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring  around 12.36pm after the suspected gunman allegedly called 911 and reported that he had fired shots inside the bank, according to the Sebring Police Department

Officers responded to the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring around 12.36pm after the suspected gunman allegedly called 911 and reported that he had fired shots inside the bank, according to the Sebring Police Department

Blurry video showed Xaver being perp-walked through the parking lot after he surrendered

Blurry video showed Xaver being perp-walked through the parking lot after he surrendered

‘We are sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,’ Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said at a press conference Wednesday evening.

‘This has been a tragic day for our community. We’ve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.

‘We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,’ he said if the victims’ loved ones. 

‘Help Sebring and our community stay strong.’ 

The sheriff’s office asked co-workers and family members of anyone who was inside the bank during the shooting should gather at the Inn on the Lakes on Gulfview Road. 

Gov Ron DeSantis traveled to Highlands County to attend the police press conference on Wednesday afternoon. 

‘Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice,’ he said of Xaver.  

This was Florida’s seventh mass shooting in less than three years.  

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (center) spoke alongside Sebring law enforcement at a press conference on Wednesday night. He said of Xaver: 'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice'

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (center) spoke alongside Sebring law enforcement at a press conference on Wednesday night. He said of Xaver: ‘Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice’

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund hangs his head with sadness during the news conference. 'We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,' Chief Hoglund said of the victims' families. 'Help Sebring and our community stay strong'

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund hangs his head with sadness during the news conference. ‘We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,’ Chief Hoglund said of the victims’ families. ‘Help Sebring and our community stay strong’

Dozens of law enforcement and media vehicles flocked to the scene as a standoff unfolded during lunchtime on Wednesday.  

‘After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations,’ the Sebring police said. 

‘The suspect eventually surrendered to the HCSO SWAT team.’

Xaver's motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo

Xaver’s motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo

A witness on the scene, Stefan Roehrig, told WFLA: ‘At first [SWAT] hooked some cables up to it [bank door], tried to rip the doors off. The door handles came right off. Then they just drove the SWAT machine right through the door.’ 

Roehrig, who said police ‘slammed [the suspect] pretty good’ before escorting him outside the bank, recorded cellphone video of Xaver being taken into custody.  

‘He was young, very young,’ Roehrig said.  

According to state officials, Xaver began working at Avon Park Correctional Institution near the Avon Park Air Force Range on November 28. 

Agency spokesperson Patrick Manderfield said the 21-year-old had no discipline during five weeks he was employed by the department. Manderfield said no explanation was given for his resignation.   

Avon Park Correctional is a state-run institution and thus its workers would not have been affected by the government shutdown. 

Social media pages believed to belong to the suspect are sparse bearing only a couple photos of Xaver himself along with a few of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death. 

According to one of his pages, Xaver had recently moved to Sebring from  Bremen, Indiana.

Police have only confirmed his name, age and that he lived in Sebring. 

A witness recorded footage of officers setting up the perimeter as they carefully planned their next move

Officials confirmed that there were multiple injuries, but it's unclear how man people were shot in the incident

Officials confirmed that there were multiple injuries, but it’s unclear how man people were shot in the incident. Police didn’t release information regarding the conditions of those injured

Authorities said the suspect had called dispatch to report that he had fired shots inside the bank

Authorities said the suspect had called dispatch to report that he had fired shots inside the bank

The Sebring Police Department said on Facebook that officers responded to the bank located at 1901 US 27 South around 12.36pm

The Sebring Police Department said on Facebook that officers responded to the bank located at 1901 US 27 South around 12.36pm



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