Zephen Xaver is accused of killing everyone inside SunTrust Bank in Sebring

Was charged with 5 counts of premeditated murder, is being held without bond

Marisol Lopez, 55, Cynthia Watson, 65, and Ana Piñon-Williams, 38, were identified as three of the victims, and the other two victims have not been named

Watson was a customer at the bank, Lopez and Piñon-Williams were employees

Xaver's ex-girlfriend Alex Gerlach said she warned people about him for years

The pair first met at a psychiatric hospital in Indiana, where he grew up, in 2013

Said he told her last week that he had purchased a firearm, showed her a photo

All five victims who were killed in a Florida bank on Wednesday afternoon were women, police have revealed.

Zephen Xaver, 21, has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder after he allegedly stormed into SunTrust Bank in Sebring and murdered everyone inside.

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Xaver, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, made all five women lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads, according to an affidavit.

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund identified three of the women as Marisol Lopez, 55, 65-year-old Cynthia Watson, and Ana Piñon-Williams, age 38.

The families of the two other victims, ages 31 and 54, have asked that their names not be released to the public.

Marisol Lopez has been named as one of the five women who were killed at SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida on Wednesday afternoon

Watson was known as an animal lover, caring for two Shih Tzus, chickens and goats at her home in Venus

Xaver has been charged with five counts of premeditated murder after he allegedly stormed into the SunTrust bank in Sebring and killed five women 'execution-style'

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'Zephen Xaver knowingly and intentionally took the lives of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, and our co-workers,' Hoglund said during a press conference on Thursday morning.

'Perhaps most unfortunate is that now we refer to them as victims of a senseless crime.'

Watson was a customer at the bank. Lopez, Piñon-Williams, and the two other women were all employees at SunTrust.

Hoglund said investigators have found no connection to the suspect and any of the five victims.

Authorities believe it was a random act and that no one was specifically targeted. It remains unclear if Xaver chose the SunTrust Bank 'for any particular reason' but police said there is no evidence he was trying to rob it.

Shell casings from Xaver's 9mm handgun were scattered on the floor. It remains unclear if the firearm was obtained legally.

'We now begin the healing process,' Hoglund said. 'We attempt to make sense of a senseless act. We mourn the loss of our peers, our mothers, and our daughters.'

Hoglund said investigators have found no connection to the suspect and any of the five victims. Marisol is pictured here with her husband

Marisol was an employee at SunTrust bank, as were three other victims. One was a customer

The fund has been set up to support the victims' families. Pictured is victim Cynthia Watson, 65, with her husband Tony Watson. They had just gotten married

Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday before he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people'

Tributes began pouring in for the victims on Thursday.

Piñon-Williams loved her work at the bank, and her co-workers, her brother-in-law told Click Orlando.

'Ana was a wife to my brother, mother to seven children, daughter, sister and family to everyone she knew,' Tim Williams said.

Shelley Speight Lopez had interviewed Marisol for her first job at a SunTrust Bank in Lake Placid in 1998.

'It only took about five minutes for me to know that she had the job,' Lopez recalled.

'What always stood out about Marisol was her kindness, her giving heart, her sweet spirit, and her willingness to help everyone. She never complained, never lost her temper, and had a work ethic second to none!'

'Yesterday, the world lost this amazing lady in a senseless tragedy. I am deeply saddened by the loss of Marisol and her co-workers. But I am forever grateful to have known her. She was a special person who will never be forgotten.'

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund was emotional as he spoke of the five victims on Thursday

Details regarding the victims came as Xaver's ex-girlfriend revealed he had always been fascinated with death.

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Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die'.

'He always hated people,' Gerlach told WSBTV. 'He got kicked out of school for having a dream that he killed everybody in his class.'

Xaver was charged with five counts of premeditated murder and was ordered held without bond after appearing in court on Thursday morning.

Hoglund said authorities will seek the 'highest penalty possible to hold him accountable for his actions'.

Alex Gerlach, who dated Xaver on and off for three years, said she has long tried to warn people about the ex-boyfriend who she said 'wanted everyone to die'

Gerlach, who said she met Xaver (far right) in a psychiatric hospital in Indiana in 2013, said he had been 'threatening this for so long' and that no one took her warnings seriously

Gerlach said her ex-boyfriend had been 'threatening this for so long', but that people ignored her warnings.

'His mother just completely denies everything and I've been scared for years and every single person I've told has not taken it seriously and it's very unfortunate that it had to come to this,' she added.

Gerlach said she first met Xaver at a psychiatric hospital in Plymouth, Indiana - where he grew up and attended high school - in 2013.

'Since the time we met, he had this fascination with death,' she told the Washington Post.

'It got worse as we broke up. We got back together on and off for awhile. Then I decided it was too much for my mental health.'

But Gerlach would check in with her ex-boyfriend every few months. Just last week, he told her he had purchased a gun and showed her a picture of the firearm.

Authorities believe it was a random act and that no one was specifically targeted. Xaver is seen here being taken into custody

'A witness said authorities drove a SWAT machine right through the door of the bank after the shooting. The extent of the damage to the bank can be seen here on Thursday morning

Gerlach said 'no one thought anything of it' because Xaver had always liked guns.

Another friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Xaver once told her he wanted to join the military 'because he wanted to kill people'.

Xaver sent that same friend a message around 11pm on Tuesday, mere hours before the shooting at SunTrust Bank.

The message simply said 'Hey..', but now the friend is left wondering if Xaver was trying to reach out for help.

'I'm just sad that he didn't get the help he needed because this could have been prevented,' she said.

'I'm even more upset that he messaged me and I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to speak to him out of respect for my best friend. Now I wish I would have.'

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'I feel like I could have said something if I would have known. But I know you never truly know what someone really has planned.'

Xaver, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, made all his victims lie down on the lobby floor before shooting them in the backs of their heads. He is pictured here after his arrest

Meanwhile, Josh Xaver said reports that it was his own son who was behind the mass shooting came as a 'total shock'.

'I'm heartbroken for my son,' he told CNN. 'I'm heartbroken for the victims.'

'He wasn't raised to be like this. He's always been a good kid. He's had his troubles, but he has never hurt anyone ever before.'

Josh Xaver did not elaborate on what exactly those past 'troubles' were.

Xaver allegedly opened fire on SunTrust Bank around 12.30pm on Wednesday.

Six minutes later, he called 911 and said 'I have shot five people'.

But Xaver refused to surrender when police descended on the scene of the mass shooting with hostage negotiators, still hoping that people were alive inside. The doors of the bank were locked.

After more than an hour, Hoglund ordered a SWAT team into the building. They had to use an armored vehicle to break through the front doors.

By then, all the victims were already dead. Xaver, who was wearing a beige was T-shirt depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, surrendered and was placed under arrest.

Police have not yet determined a motive in the 'senseless murders', but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised swift justice for the victims, whose names are being withheld pending family notification.

Law enforcement officials continued to investigate the crime scene well into the night on Wednesday and Thursday morning

The FBI has since joined the investigation and were seen at the scene of the horrific shooting

But Xaver allegedly killed everyone inside after he stormed SunTrust on Wednesday afternoon

Authorities say Xaver was a correctional officer trainee hired by the Avon Park Correctional Institution in November, but he resigned on January 9 without an explanation.

'He had no discipline while employed with the department,' said Florida Corrections Department spokesman Patrick Manderfield.

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund called the shooting a 'tragic day' for the community.

'We are sorry to learn that we have at least five victims, people who were senselessly murdered as a result of his act in this bank,' he said during a press conference on Wednesday night.

'We've suffered a significant loss at the hands of a senseless criminal doing a senseless crime.'

An employee inside SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida, where a 21-year-old gunman killed five woman execution style, was able to escape out a back door and call 911 during the shooting

DeSantis also spoke during the press conference, saying: 'The people of Florida stand with the community here in light of this tragic circumstance.'

'I've asked [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] to provide whatever resources we can at the state level to assist with the investigation.'

'Obviously this is an individual that needs to face very swift and exacting justice.'

This was Florida's seventh mass shooting in less than three years.

Xaver's motive has not yet been determined. He is seen above in a Facebook photo

Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said the shooting was the worst thing he had seen during his long career.

'I am heartbroken that this horrendous incident has occurred in our county,' Blackman said.

'This tragedy will have a lasting impact on Highlands County and likely this community will never be the same.'

'While we still don’t know what drove the suspect to commit this heinous act, there is no excuse that can justify the cold-blooded murder of multiple victims.'

SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said the bank is working with law enforcement and 'dedicating ourselves to supporting the people and families impacted by this horrible and senseless tragedy'.

'Our entire team mourns this terrible loss,' he added.

Social media pages believed to belong to the suspect are sparse, bearing only a few photos of Xaver himself along with some of the Grim Reaper, a symbol of death.

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Xaver moved to Sebring from Bremen, Indiana with his mother in the fall.

Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund hangs his head with sadness during the news conference. 'We ask that you please keep them in your prayers, keep them in your thoughts,' Chief Hoglund said of the victims' families. 'Help Sebring and our community stay strong'

Police tape marks the scene where five people were killed at a SunTrust Bank branch