Insets: Jacob Pearson and Leanne Selman. Background: Pearson after he allegedly killed Selman at a Citibank corporate office in Tampa, Florida. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida man allegedly drove to a Citibank corporate campus employing more than 3,000 people with plans to find and kill “any person he could find” after becoming enraged over a $2,500 debt.
Jacob Pearson, 35, is accused of killing Leanne Selman, 41, shortly before noon Wednesday. A “heroic” security guard, meanwhile, shot Pearson, killing him. During a press conference, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Pearson had called a Citibank attorney that morning, furious after receiving a court summons over an unpaid $2,500 obligation.
“Unless you want me to go over there with my AR 15, my bulletproof vest, and my insanity, you m—f—ing cancel this court case,” Pearson said, according to Chronister. “Do you understand me? There are only an hour and three minutes away, so the last thing you want to do is f— with me.”
Concerned by the threat, the attorney notified corporate security, which began looking into Pearson. Officials determined that he lived in Orlando, and Orlando police went to his home to ask about his whereabouts. His wife told them he had left earlier that morning and appeared angry about something.
The security guard also alerted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. As deputies arrived and spoke with him, they heard gunfire, Chronister said.
“Courtyard! Courtyard!” the security guard reportedly told them.
According to the sheriff, Pearson drove through a gate and into the courtyard. He stepped out, approached the first person he saw and shot her three times. His rifle then malfunctioned.
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“This suspect goes back—returns back to his car, retrieves his handgun, walks back over to the victim, who’s trying to crawl away with her life, and executes her,” Chronister said.
Pearson then entered the cafeteria, sending people who were eating lunch rushing for safety. He continued farther into the building.
“He takes a tactical position in the men’s restroom, knowing that he heard the gunshots, he hears the door open, and he sees a suspect coming, and he engages this suspect,” Chronister said. “He fires rounds, and now he finds himself in a gunfight because the suspect is returning gunfire. He fires some more rounds, and he’s able to strike the suspect five times.”
Paramedics transported Pearson to a hospital, where he later died.
Selman, who had worked at Citibank for nine years, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chronister credited the security guard, a retired Marine, with intervening before the attack could become even more deadly.
“Because of the heroic actions of this Citibank security officer, vice president of operations, his reign of terror ended before it even began,” Chronister said.
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