Gunman shot and killed outside of the Palm Beach County Credit Union on Friday ID'd

SUBURBAN WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A West Palm Beach man died Friday afternoon after a deputy-involved shooting in the parking lot of the Palm Beach County Credit Union at 3469 Summit Boulevard, in suburban West Palm Beach.

Authorities were called just after 4 p.m. after someone in the credit union saw a man with a rifle in the parking lot.

Three deputies arrived a few minutes later and came face-to-face with the suspect, identified as Christopher Thompson, 18.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the suspect had a high powered rifle, one able to hold more than 50 rounds of ammunition.

"The suspect fired at the deputies, you can see some bullet holes in the car," said Sheriff Bradshaw.

According to Sheriff Bradshaw, at least three rounds hit one of the deputy's cruisers. That's when investigators say the three deputies had no choice but to open fire.

"The suspect went down, neutralized at that spot and he is deceased." said Bradshaw.

A few feet away from where the fatal shots were fired, investigators found a tan vehicle, believed to be the suspect's, running. A backpack was found inside, and the bomb squad was called in to check its contents. Nothing dangerous was found.

"The bottom line is we don't know if the guy was here to do a robbery, we don't know what the circumstances that caused him to come here with that rifle," said Sheriff Bradshaw.

Divya Sukumar was at the credit union to open a savings account at the time of the incident. She had no idea what the loud blasts were.

"At the time, everyone didn't know what happened, it was calm, we just thought it was fireworks," said Sukumar.

She was one of about 10 customers inside the Palm Beach County Credit Union at the time of the incident.

Deputies are hailing others after Friday's incident, particularly their first witness: the one who called 911 to report a man with a rifle.

"They definitely diminished this threat," said Teri Barbera, a spokesperson with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. "This could have been a massacre."

"The deputies did an excellent job of neutralizing this serious threat to people at the credit union," said Bradshaw.

The sheriff said his team acted appropriately and, thankfully, very quickly.

Summit Boulevard was closed for a few hours between Davis Road and Congress Avenue.

NewsChannel 5's Evan Axelbank, Rochelle Ritchie, and Dan Corcoran contributed to this article.