A man who held hostages at a Fort Myers Bank of America on Tuesday morning has been shot dead, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.
He said the man entered the bank with a knife about 11 a.m. Within minutes, deputies and other law enforcement arrived.
The bank is at 13099 US Highway 41 S.E./Cleveland Ave., adjacent to Bell Tower Shops.
As deputies entered the bank, dozens of people who had been held hostage by the suspect ran out, but two were forced to remain behind, Marceno said, because the suspect had a knife to one of their throats.
“We were quickly face-to-face with the male suspect with a knife, who claimed he had a bomb,” he said.
When the suspect attempted to put one hostage in a headlock, a member of the office’s SWAT team fired a fatal shot, striking the man.
“It was a chaotic scene,” Marceno said, adding they used all available resources including the SWAT team, electronic surveillance, drones and a robodog that can open doors and talk to suspects. Dozens of deputies and members of the FBI and Florida Highway Patrol also responded to help control the scene.