Florida Bank Shooting: 4 SunTrust Victims Named

UPDATED AT 12 AM JAN. 25

SEBRING, FL — Five women were fatally shot at a SunTrust bank branch in Sebring Wednesday after a 21-year-old gunman opened fire, killing everyone inside. Authorities and family members released the names of the four victims Thursday. The accused gunman — identified as Zephen Xaver of Sebring — later surrendered after barricading himself inside the branch, according to Sebring police. The branch is located at 1901 US 27 South.

A northern Indiana police department released a 2014 incident report in which Xaver, then 16, said he had dreams of hurting other students in a classroom. See also SunTrust Bank Shootings: Chilling 9-1-1 Call, Victims Remembered

The report released Thursday night by the Bremen Police Department said that Bremen High School Principal Bruce Jennings contacted police on Feb. 20, 2014, after Xaver, then a student, reported having such a dream a previous night and again during a nap he took at school. The report said Xaver’s mother agreed to take him to a behavioral health center, and police took no further action.

By early Thursday morning, online records showed that Xaver was booked on five counts of premeditated first-degree murder. He appeared briefly before a judge later in the morning wearing a black-and-white striped prison uniform. A public defender was appointed to represent him.

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund identified the first two victims on Thursday as bank employee Marisol Lopez and customer Cynthia Watson. A third victim was identified by a family member as bank employee Ana Piñon-Williams. The husband of a fourth victim also came forward, sharing with NBC News that his 31-year-old wife Jessica Montague was taken.

“We believe that it was a random act,” the chief said Thursday in an emotional voice. “We have no information that there was any bank robbery.”

On Wednesday, the Sebring chief said that at least five people were “senselessly murdered” when Xaver walked into the bank about 12:36 p.m. and fired multiple gunshots. A man, believed to be Xaver then called the police dispatch center to report the shooting, saying, “I have shot five people.”

Highlands County State Attorney Brian Haas said at Thursday’s press conference that he plans to convene a grand jury to seek indictments against Xaver for first-degree murder.

A police affidavit said that all five women were found lying face down in the bank’s lobby with gunshots to the backs of their heads. The affidavit said shell casings from the shooter’s 9 mm handgun were scattered on the floor, and authorities found the shooter in an office in the rear of the bank.

The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office responded to the bank around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday. Sebring police arrived two minutes later. The sheriff’s SWAT team entered the branch at 1:54 p.m., crashing an armored vehicle into the storefront.

“Upon entering and securing the scene, these tactical units took Zephen Xaver into custody at approximately 2:28 p.m.,” Hoglund said Thursday.

Sebring police said that all five people inside the bank were killed by the shooter. At one point the sheriff’s office released video of Xaver being led by deputies to booking after undergoing interviews with investigators but then removed the video.

“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,” Hoglund said. “This is something that you hope will never happen anywhere, much less in your hometown. We will continue to investigate and work to see that the victims and their families are taken care of and that they receive the justice they deserve.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the shooting as “tragic” and offered state resources as he traveled to Sebring for Wednesday’s press conference.

“This is a terrible day for Sebring, Highlands County and for the state of Florida,” DeSantis told reporters. “The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance.”

Hoglund said negotiations to get the barricaded man to leave the bank were unsuccessful. Once the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team entered the bank, the man eventually surrendered.

Indiana police also released log entries of further incidents involving Xaver, including one in March 2017 in which Michigan State Police advised that a girl was receiving messages from Xaver that he was “possibly thinking of suicide by cop and taking hostages.”

The governor asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to offer any resources available. “Obviously this is an individual who needs to face very swift and exacting justice,” DeSantis asserted.

The FBI is involved in the investigation, according to FBI spokesman Jim Marshall in Miami.

“The FBI is in coordination with local law enforcement agencies regarding a shooting at a SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, Florida,” Marshall told Patch. “No further information is available at this time.”

SunTrust Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers said bank officials are deeply saddened by the “tragic shooting” in Sebring.

“We are working with officials and dedicating ourselves to fully addressing the needs of all the individuals and families involved,” Rogers said in a statement to Patch. “Our entire team mourns this terrible loss.”

Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said he was “heartbroken” by the tragedy. He feared that the community will never be the same.

“I have been in law enforcement all of my adult life and this horrific incident shocks and angers me more than anything I have encountered in my career,” Blackman said. “While we still don’t know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.”

A neighbor of Xaver told WPLG TV in Miami that she was not aware of any red flags with respect to Xaver, which is unlike the accused killer of 17 faculty members and students in the nearly one-year-old Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“He’s just a normal, quiet, polite 21-year-old,” Sharon Spillane, Xaver’s next door neighbor, told the news crew. “This just has me shocked.”

A woman identifying herself as the ex-girlfriend of Xaver said he often thought about hurting people and has long been fascinated with death and guns.

WSBT in South Bend, Indiana, reported that Alex Gerlach said she tried to warn people about Xaver’s potential for harm.

Patrick Manderfield of the Florida Department of Corrections confirmed that Xaver quit his job as a Florida state correctional officer trainee at the Avon Park Correctional Institution on Jan. 9. Xaver started the position two months earlier on Nov. 2.

“He had no discipline while employed with the department,” added Manderfield.

Spokesperson Sherrie Martin of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education told Patch that a person with Xaver’s name was a former student in the online program of Stevens Henager’s College. He withdrew from the school in December of 2018, according to Martin.

Hoglund said he asked the sheriff’s office to send in the SWAT team. “While engaged in negotiations, I ordered or asked the sheriff to send in the tactical unit of their SWAT team in an attempt to recover potential victims and take the subject into custody,” the chief explained.

Stefan Roehrig told WFLA-Ch. 8 that the SWAT team attached cables to the door handles of the armored vehicle at first, but instead of ripping the doors open they just pulled the handles off. Roehrig said deputies then drove the armored vehicle right through the doors. He said the SWAT team soon led the gunman out in handcuffs.

Sebring police initially asked friends and family members of anyone who was at the SunTrust branch in Sebring during the incident to gather to the Inn of the Lakes.

US 27 was shut down in both directions on Wednesday from Golfview to Drive to Lakeview Drive due to the incident.

“Co-workers and family members of anyone who was at the SunTrust branch during today’s incident should go to Inn on the Lakes,” police urged.

Sebring is 94 miles southeast of Tampa.

Refresh this page for updates from Patch to this developing news story.

Deb Belt and Feroze Dhanoa of the Patch National Staff contributed to this report as did the Associated Press.

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PHOTOS: Zephen Xaver photo (Highlands County Sheriff), Law enforcement officials take cover outside the SunTrust Bank branch, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla. (Highlands NewsSun via AP); A sheriff’s department armored vehicle is shown at the SunTrust Bank branch, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Sebring, Fla. Authorities say they’ve arrested a man who fired shots inside the Florida bank. (Highlands NewsSun via AP)