Washington: At least five people were killed on Wednesday after a shooter opened fire in a bank in the US state of Florida, according to local police.
‘After an assessment of the scene we were sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,’ Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund told reporters at a press conference.
Previous reports indicated that multiple people were shot as the result of the attack and that the suspect surrendered after law enforcement officials surrounded the bank. It is unclear how many people were wounded, reports Xinhua news agency.
The suspect was identified as a 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, according to local media.
Ron DeSantis, Florida governor who also attended the press conference, vowed that the suspect would face ‘swift, exacting justice.’
Sebring is in central Florida, about 140 kilometers south of Orlando.
Florida has been marred by mass shootings in recent years. In February 2018, a teenager killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, and in June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando.