A man stormed a Florida bank yesterday and massacred five people. The identity of the attacker has now been revealed.
21-year-old Zephen Xaver is accused of bursting into the Sun Trust bank in Sebring, central Florida, around 12:30pm Wednesday and opening fire. He killed at least five people, police say, with Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund warning others injured in the massacre could still die, Metro UK reports.
It is unclear whether the casualties were bank employees or customers.
After shooting, Xaver dialled 911. He later surrendered to officers when SWAT team arrived at the bank.
Xaver, who lives in Sebring, is currently in police custody. The motive for the massacre has not been revealed.
Helicopter footage showed the front of the building badly damaged afterwards, with its windows smashed and metal frames littering the ground.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Police Chief Hoglund said:
We’ve suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal committing a senseless crime.
Florida Governor Ron De Santis called the mass shooting ‘a terrible day for Florida,’ and vowed to use the full force of the law to bring the shooter to justice.
In the aftermath of the shooting, relatives of the bank workers were asked to gather at a nearby hotel, with one woman seen collapsing in tears after receiving a phone call.
Reporter Josh Sidorowicz tweeted:
Just witnessed a woman walk out of the building while on the phone and drop to the ground crying. She yelled something, clearly in distress. And officer guided her back inside.