Newly released footage from Florida police shows the incredible moment a sniper shot a bank robber with the bullet traveling through a desktop computer and between two hostages before fatally striking the suspect.
The scene unfolded on February 6 when a 36-year-old man attempted to rob a Fort Myers Bank of America, and took two people hostage inside an office of the bank after police closed in on him.
The suspect had told cops he had a bomb on him and crouched behind the hostages — using them as a human shield — as a negotiator tried to get him to surrender.
But the robber suddenly threw one of the hostages into a headlock and held a knife to her throat, prompting officers to spring into action.
Footage from the scene released by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office showed SWAT officers in position outside the bank’s doors while a sniper steadied his rifle on the shoulder of another officer.
The sniper aimed his rifle at the suspect, whose head could barely be seen over the top of a computer monitor across the room.
“Keep talking to me, keep talking to me, I want to know what’s going through your head right now,” the negotiator said.
Moments later, the sniper pulled the trigger and a shot rang out.
Inside the bank office, the bullet pierced through the computer monitor, leaving a hole, and then struck the robber, who was hunkered down behind the two hostages.
The video shows the suspect crumbling to the floor as the hostages scatter for cover in different directions.
Officers then charged into the office and tossed flash grenades as they checked that the suspect was incapacitated and the hostages were safe.
“Shooting positions like these are trained regularly by snipers for time critical incidents like these,” Lt. Todd Olmer of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office explained alongside the video, describing the shoulder-steadied shot.
“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,” he said.
“Firing through barriers is a trained and routinely practiced skill by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office special operations unit snipers,” Olmer continued.
“The .308 caliber bullet used is specifically selected due to its known ballistic reliability traveling through intermediate barriers.”
With Post wires.