A gunman who killed a woman before being fatally shot by a security guard at Citibank’s sprawling Tampa office complex targeted the campus over his anger about a $2,500 debt collection, the county sheriff said Thursday.
Roughly three hours before Wednesday’s attack, Jacob Pearson called an attorney connected to Citibank and threatened violence, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news conference.
Pearson demanded that the lawyer cancel a court hearing concerning his unpaid credit card debt. Otherwise, he threatened, “you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity,” Chronister said.
Chronister said Pearson, 35, had no criminal record. Pearson’s father, Richard Pearson, told The Associated Press that he had never seen any sign his son might carry out a violent shooting.
Gunman targeted Citibank but had ‘zero connection’ to victim
The attack began around lunchtime, when many of the 3,200 employees at Citibank’s suburban Tampa campus were eating.
Pearson drove about 90 miles (144 kilometers) from his home in Orlando to Tampa, crashed through a fence surrounding the campus and drove into a courtyard where employees were having lunch, Chronister said.
Follow the latest developments in the shooting at a Tampa Citibank office:
According to the sheriff, Pearson left his vehicle carrying a rifle and shot the first employee he encountered. The weapon jammed after three shots, prompting him to return to his car, retrieve a handgun and shoot the same person again. She died from her injuries.
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The victim was identified as Leanne Selman, 41, a Citibank human resources employee.
Selman had worked for Citibank for nine years and was “a beloved employee,” said Ed Skyler, a spokesman for Citibank parent company Citigroup. Chronister said there was “zero connection” between Selman and Pearson.
“He was there intent on one purpose, and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill them,” Chronister said.
As employees fled the gunfire, Pearson entered the building and walked through a cafeteria. An executive who served on Citibank’s armed security team shot the gunman five times before he could injure anyone else. Pearson was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The sheriff said the shooting could have resulted in far more casualties. Pearson brought 90 rounds of ammunition to the campus but fired only 15 times before he was stopped, Chronister said.
No one else was shot, according to the sheriff. Four people were treated at a hospital for minor injuries sustained while fleeing, as well as medical issues including chest pains.
Selman’s father declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday.
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