2019 Sebring shooting

{{Infobox civilian attack

| date = {{start date and age|2019|1|23}}

| title = 2019 Sebring shooting

| location = SunTrust Bank; Sebring, Florida

| coordinates = {{Coord|27.47192|N|81.4431|W|type:event_region:US-FL|display=inline,title}}

| fatalities = 5

| injuries = 0

| perp = Zephen Allen Xaver

| motive = Homicidal urges and suicide

| type = Mass shooting

| weapons = 9mm handgun{{Cite news |last=Stack |first=Liam |last2=Haag |first2=Matthew |last3=Rueb |first3=Emily S. |date=2019-01-24 |title=Florida Bank Shooting: Victims Are Identified as Details of 5 Killings Emerge |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/us/sebring-bank-shooting-zephen-xaver.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=2022-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213074622/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/us/sebring-bank-shooting-zephen-xaver.html |archive-date=13 February 2023|quote= said he had a nine-millimeter handgun }}

}}

On January 23, 2019, at around 12:30 pm, five women {{ndash}} four employees and a customer {{ndash}} were shot and killed at the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida. Zephen Xaver, aged 21, surrendered and was arrested at the scene by police after a standoff and the deployment of a SWAT team.{{cite web|last1=Suarez Sang|first=Lucia I.|date=January 24, 2019|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/motive-unknown-in-florida-bank-shooting-gunman-no-connection-to-victims-police|title=Motive unknown in Florida bank shooting, gunman no connection to victims: police|website=Fox News|access-date=January 24, 2019}} He initially pleaded not guilty to five murders. On March 14, 2023, he pleaded guilty in the shooting.{{cite web |date=March 14, 2023 |title=Sebring bank shooting suspect pleads guilty to 2019 murders |url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/sebring-bank-shooting-suspect-expected-to-plea-guilty-in-2019-murders |access-date=March 14, 2023 |website=Fox 13 Tampa Bay }} On December 16, 2024, he was sentenced to death.{{cite web|title=Sebring bank shooter formally sentenced to death for killing 5 women in 2019|url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/sebring-bank-shooter-learns-his-fate|access-date=December 16, 2024|website=Fox 13 Tampa Bay}}

Shooting

At 12:32 pm, a man entered the SunTrust Bank wearing a ballistic vest underneath his sweatshirt. Minutes before entering the bank, he texted to his girlfriend that he was going to die today and that he was going to kill people just to know how it would feel. He walked up to one of the bank tellers and pulled out a handgun. He forced the bank teller and everyone else in the lobby to gather at a wall with their hands up. He told the teller to lock both doors to the bank and she complied. The shooter then ordered the five women to lie down on the floor face down with their heads pointing towards the wall. At 12:35 pm, the shooter executed all five women with nine shots.{{Cite web |author=KIM MOODY Highlands News-Sun and TERRY SPENCER|agency=Associated Press |date=2024-05-20 |title=Sentencing trial set to begin for Xaver |url=https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/highlands_news-sun/news/sentencing-trial-set-to-begin-for-xaver/article_8680c8ee-15d6-11ef-9998-7f06d8c7b1e0.html |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=Mid Florida Newspapers |language=en}} The man phoned the police at 12:36 pm ET,{{Cite web|url=https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/sebring-bank-shooting/one-employee-escaped-florida-bank-massacre-by-running-out-back-door-sheriffs-office-says|title=One employee escaped Florida bank massacre by running out back door, sheriff's office says|date=2019-01-25|website=WFTS|language=en|access-date=2019-02-05}} and told responders that he had shot five people.{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/23/us/sebring-florida-bank-incident/index.html|title=Sebring Florida Bank incident|last=Levenson|first=Eric|date=January 24, 2019|website=CNN|access-date=January 25, 2019}} While on the phone with police, he walked back to the bodies of the five women and fired two more shots at them. During the middle of the call, the man pointed the handgun to his own head and told the operator that he might kill himself. SWAT arrived, trying to negotiate to get the barricaded suspect to leave the bank. The perpetrator also told police he had a nine-millimeter handgun and was wearing a bulletproof vest. During the negotiations, the suspect told the negotiator that he was hearing voices telling him to kill and that placing the gun to his head weakened the voices. The crisis negotiator eventually convinced the suspect to put the handgun down and surrender, as members of the SWAT team entered the bank by ramming an armored vehicle through its glass front doors.{{Cite web |last=Gay |first=Nancy |date=2024-06-12 |title=Sebring bank shooting trial: Gunman tells police ‘I deserve to die for this’ in video played for jurors |url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/sebring-bank-shooting-gunmans-sentencing-trial-continues-after-bank-teller-testifies-about-escaping-massacre |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=FOX 13 Tampa Bay |language=en-US}} The suspect was arrested.{{Cite news |last=Mettler |first=Katie |last2=Berman |first2=Mark |last3=Wang |first3=Amy B. |last4=Flynn |first4=Meagan |date=January 24, 2019 |title=A man opened fire in a Florida bank, killing five. Authorities still don't know why. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/24/man-opened-fire-florida-bank-killing-five-authorities-still-dont-know-why/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220192724/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/24/man-opened-fire-florida-bank-killing-five-authorities-still-dont-know-why/ |archive-date=20 February 2019}}

The lone survivor of the shooting was a bank employee who had been in the bank's break room just before the gunman walked in. The employee escaped out the back door when gunshots first rang out; after getting outside, he called 911.

Victims

Five women were discovered by police, shot execution style in the back of their heads and upper backs. They were identified as:

Debra Cook, age 54, employee
Marisol Lopez, 55, employee
Jessica Montague, 31, employee
Cynthia Watson, 65, customer
Ana Piñon-Williams, 37, employee

Perpetrator

File:ZephenXaver.jpg

The perpetrator, 21-year-old Zephen Allen Xaver (born April 2, 1997),{{cite web|title=Inmate Population Information Detail - Zephen A Xaver|url=https://pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/offenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=H82564&TypeSearch=AI|publisher=Florida Department of Corrections|access-date=December 21, 2024}} was born in Plymouth, Indiana, and raised in neighboring Bremen.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/24/sebring-florida-suntrust-bank-shooting-suspect/2666353002/|title=Suspect in Florida bank shooting that left 5 dead originally from Indiana|first=Tony|last=Cook|date=December 16, 2024|website=IndyStar}}{{Cite news |last=Stack |first=Liam |last2=Haag |first2=Matthew |last3=Rueb |first3=Emily S. |date=2019-01-24 |title=Florida Bank Shooting: Victims Are Identified as Details of 5 Killings Emerge |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/us/sebring-bank-shooting-zephen-xaver.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=2023-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213074622/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/us/sebring-bank-shooting-zephen-xaver.html |archive-date=13 February 2023}} He was taken into custody after surrendering to local officers, and was identified as a former Florida Department of Corrections correctional officer trainee with the Avon Park Correctional Institution, a position from which he resigned on January 9, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/23/sebring-florida-shooting-suspect-zephen-xaver-suntrust-bank/2663733002/|title=Sebring, Florida, shooting: Who is Zephen Xaver, suspect accused of killing five at SunTrust Bank|last=Gallop|first=J.D.|date=January 23, 2019|website=USA TODAY|language=en|access-date=2019-02-05}}

Xaver was charged with five counts of capital murder and held by police without bond. He was appointed a public defender as he had no income or assets.{{Cite web |author=Karimi |first=Faith |last2=Silverman |first2=Hollie |date=25 January 2019 |title=Florida bank shooting suspect had dreams of killing students, police say |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/25/us/florida-bank-shooting-zephen-xaver/index.html |access-date=2019-02-05 |website=CNN}} On February 22, he entered a plea of not guilty in the case. Prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theledger.com/news/20190222/sebring-bank-massacre-suspect-zephen-xaver-enters-not-guilty-plea|title=Sebring bank massacre suspect Zephen Xaver enters not guilty plea|agency=Associated Press|website=The Ledger|language=en|access-date=2019-02-28}} On March 14, 2023, Xaver pleaded guilty in the shooting. In June 2024, jurors recommended the death penalty.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/sebring-bank-shooting-jurors-reach-verdict-gunman-zephen-xavers-sentencing-trial|title=Sebring bank shooting: Jurors recommend death penalty for gunman Zephen Xaver|first=Nancy|last=Gay|date=June 26, 2024|website=FOX 13 News}} On December 16, 2024, he was sentenced to death.