At least 5 killed in shooting at Florida bank

Jan. 23 (UPI) -- At least five people were killed in a shooting at a bank in Sebring, Fla,. on Wednesday, police said.

Sebring police said the suspected gunman, identified as 21-year-old Zephen Xaver, called 911 at about 12:30 p.m., saying he had opened fire in a SunTrust bank in the city 94 miles southeast of Tampa.

Sebring police officers and Highlands County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to the scene, but were unable to negotiate with the gunman, who had barricaded himself inside the bank.

"After negotiations to try to get the barricaded subject to exit the bank were not successful, the HCSO SWAT team entered the bank and continued the negotiations," Sebring police said, according to the Miami Herald. "The suspect eventually surrendered to the HCSO SWAT team."

The identities of those killed in the shooting weren't immediately released and he sheriff's office asked co-workers and family members of anyone inside the bank during the incident to report to a nearby inn.

Officials shut down U.S. Highway 27 in both directions and temporarily put the the Kindergarten Learning Center and Fred Wild Elementary on controlled campus during the incident. The campus lockdowns were lifted at 2:30 p.m.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to give local investigators assistance.

"This is individual needs to face very swift and exacting justice," DeSantis said.