Tampa Citibank shooter Jacob Pearson killed over $2,500 debt
Sheriff says the 35-year-old Orlando man threatened violence before driving to the campus and killing one employee.
By Aiko Soto ·
Jacob Pearson drove from Orlando to a Citibank office park in Tampa to settle a financial dispute with a gun.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced Thursday that Pearson, 35, targeted the complex because of a 2,500 dollar debt collection. The gunman killed one woman before a security officer shot him dead. The incident occurred on Wednesday while 3,200 employees worked on the campus, which includes four three-story buildings.
Pearson called an attorney connected to Citibank roughly three hours before the attack. Chronister stated that Pearson threatened to cancel a court hearing regarding the debt unless the lawyer acted. “Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity,” Pearson told the lawyer, according to the sheriff.
The man traveled about 90 miles from his home in Orlando. He crashed his vehicle through a perimeter fence and entered a courtyard where staff were eating lunch. Chronister said Pearson exited the car with a rifle and shot Leann Selman, 41, who worked in human resources. An executive on the armed security team fired five shots at Pearson before the gunman could reach other employees. Pearson died at a hospital.
The sheriff noted that Pearson carried 90 rounds of ammunition but used only 15 before his rifle jammed. He then retrieved a handgun from his car. Chronister described the attacker’s goal as hunting for people to kill.
