Tampa Citibank Shooter Motivated by Debt
Hillsborough County officials say the attacker called a lawyer 90 miles away to dispute a bill before driving to the campus.
By Allison Rojas ·
A gunman killed a Citibank employee in Tampa after crashing his car through a fence at the company's office complex. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Thursday that the attack stemmed from a dispute over a $2,500 debt.
Jacob Pearson, 35, called an attorney connected to Citibank roughly three hours before the shooting. Pearson told the lawyer he needed to cancel a court hearing. "Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity," Chronister quoted Pearson as saying.
Pearson drove from his Orlando home to Tampa, a distance of about 90 miles. He crashed his vehicle through a campus fence and plowed into a courtyard where staff were eating lunch. The complex houses four three-story buildings and employed 3,200 people at the time of the attack.
Pearson exited his car with a rifle and shot Leann Selman, 41, who worked in human resources. A Citibank security executive then fired five shots at Pearson. The gunman was declared dead at a hospital.
Chronister stated that Pearson carried 90 rounds of ammunition but fired only 15 before his rifle jammed. The shooter then returned to his vehicle to retrieve a handgun. Chronister described the motive as a drive to "hunt any human being he could find and kill them."
