Jacob Pearson was killed after the Tampa Citibank shooting at Citibank Center in Hillsborough County on Wednesday morning. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Pearson drove there from Orlando, then shot 41-year-old LeAnne Selmon inside a cafeteria.
Chronister said about 3,200 employees were on campus when the attack unfolded, and four other employees were hurt while running or hiding during the exit. Selmon was shot three times before Pearson returned with a handgun and kept moving through the building.
Chronister on Pearson's warning
Chronister said the violence followed a collection dispute tied to a delinquent $2,500 payment to Citibank. Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, Pearson called an attorney's office contracted by the bank for collections and warned, "Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity, you mf’ing cancel this court case. Do you understand me? They are only an hour and three minutes away, so the last thing you want to do is f with me."
After the call, Citibank's head of security alerted authorities. Officers with the Orlando Police Department went to Pearson's home for a welfare check, and his wife told them he had already left while visibly angry without saying where he was going.
LeAnne Selmon at Citibank Center
Pearson drove to the Citibank Center in Hillsborough County and crashed his car through a courtyard gate as deputies arrived. Chronister said, "He was there intent on one purpose and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill."
Inside the cafeteria, John Fraley took a tactical position in the men's restroom and opened fire as Pearson shot back. Fraley hit Pearson five times. Chronister said, "Because of the heroic actions of this Citibank security officer, vice president of operations, his reign of terror ended before it even began."
Tampa General Hospital
Paramedics took Pearson to Tampa General Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Pearson was married and had a 7-year-old child, and Chronister said he had no prior criminal record before Wednesday. The unanswered issue is why Pearson was not stopped before he reached the Citibank Center.
