A Florida Marine veteran was credited Thursday as a hero for fatally shooting a gunman who drove onto a Citibank Center campus and began hunting down workers in anger over a delinquent $2,500 credit card bill, officials said.
During a press briefing detailing the tragedy, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister identified the security officer as John Fraley, who confronted 35-year-old Jacob Pearson inside the corporate setting just after he shot and killed a female Citibank employee.
“He is an individual that’s afforded an opportunity to carry a firearm because the ones who were either previous law enforcement or military and have that training, Citibank empowers them to carry a handgun,” Chronister said.
“He didn’t have to stop. He could have run and protected his own life, too. He took up a tactical position when he saw the suspect coming and made a decision.”
ARMED SECURITY GUARD HAILED AS HERO AFTER FATALLY SHOOTING GUNMAN AT MASSIVE TAMPA CITIBANK SITE
“That decision put his own life at risk to stop that shooter from harming anyone else,” he added.
Pearson was married and had a 7-year-old child, the sheriff said.
He became violent upon receiving a court summons regarding a $2,500 delinquent debt owed to Citibank, the sheriff said. Furious over the court notice, Pearson called an attorney’s office contracted by the bank for collections around 9 a.m. Wednesday.
He allegedly made violent threats to the attorney’s office over the phone before leaving his Orlando home.
“Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity, you m———— cancel this court case,” he allegedly said, Fox 13 reported.
“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.”
Citibank’s head of security, a retired Secret Service agent, recognized the severity of the threat, initiated proactive safety measures, and contacted both the Orlando Police Department for a welfare check and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to request deputy presence on campus.
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Despite those steps, Pearson drove to the Brandon campus, crashing through a gate into the courtyard where employees were gathered.
Once inside, he got out of his sedan with a rifle immediately shot 41-year-old learning advisor LeAnne Selmon three times before his weapon malfunctioned, according to Chronister.
ARMED SECURITY GUARD HAILED AS HERO AFTER FATALLY SHOOTING GUNMAN AT MASSIVE TAMPA CITIBANK SITE
“As he shoots her, his rifle begins to malfunction,” he said. “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.”
“He was there intent on one purpose and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill,” the sheriff said. “Because of the heroic actions of this Citibank security officer, vice president of operations, his reign of terror ended before it even began.”
Pearson then walked into a cafeteria intent on finding more victims before encountering Fraley, the sheriff said. Fraley, a Citibank security guard, vice president of operations, took a tactical position inside the men’s restroom and opened fire, striking Pearson five times, according to the sheriff.
Pearson was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical care, where he died from his injuries.