Five women were killed Wednesday inside of a bank in Sebring, authorities said.
At about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, investigators say 21-year-old Zephen Xaver entered the SunTrust Bank, 1901 US Highway 27 S., and made contact with employees. He “overtook the bank by force” and then “shot everyone in the bank,” Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said at a press conference Thursday morning.
Six minutes later, Xaver called 911 and told dispatchers he had killed five people, Blackman said.
Blackman said dispatchers kept Xaver on the phone until crisis negotiators arrived at the scene at about 12:44 p.m.
A SWAT team eventually entered the bank and found all five victims, which had succumbed to their injuries.
Blackman identified Friday a fourth victim: Jessica Montague. Two of the victims were identified Wednesday as Marisol Lopez, 55, a bank employee and Cynthia Watson, 65, a customer. Victims’ rights protections under Marsy’s Law prevents authorities from identifying the three other victims, according to Blackman.
In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, family of victim Ana Pinon-Williams, 38, spoke to media members.
Pinon-Williams’ brother-in-law, Tim Williams said she was a devout Christian who was “family to everyone she knew,” and just recently began as an employee of the SunTrust branch in Sebring. He said she quickly came to love her job and co-workers.
Williams said his sister-in-law was a mother to seven children, “and family to everyone she knew.”
He added that “loving came easy to her” and that “living without her will be hard.”
Williams says his family believes in the power of prayer, unlike “those who say prayer is a useless act.”
He said “these same people argue that we need to pass new laws and exert more control over people,” an apparent reference to the calls for more gun control that have come after other mass shootings.
Xaver was charged with five counts of capital murder. He was ordered Thursday to remain behind bars with no bond.
“We have no information at this time as to what his true motive may have been,” said Sebring Police chief Karl Hoglund. “We have no background information on whether this was a planned attack.”
Hoglund said they would seek the highest penalty possible to hold this person accountable for their actions.
