Citibank employee killed in Tampa after shooter arrived over $2,500 debt

Citibank operates four three-story office buildings on a suburban Tampa campus that employs 3,200 people. The facility became the site of a deadly attack when a man arrived to settle a financial dispute with the company.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister revealed on Thursday that the gunman, Jacob Pearson, targeted the complex specifically over a $2,500 debt collection. Pearson, 35, had called an attorney affiliated with Citibank roughly three hours before the shooting to voice his anger. He told the lawyer he needed to cancel a court hearing over the debt, adding, “unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity,” according to Chronister.

The sequence of events began when Pearson drove from his home in Orlando to Tampa, a distance of about 90 miles. He crashed his vehicle through a fence at the campus perimeter and drove into a courtyard where employees were eating lunch. Chronister stated that Pearson exited the car with a rifle and fired at the first employee he saw.

The victim was identified as Leann Selman, a 41-year-old human resources worker for Citibank. An executive who serves on the bank’s armed security team shot the gunman five times, stopping the attack before Pearson could injure others. Pearson was pronounced dead at a hospital. Chronister noted that the shooter carried 90 rounds of ammunition but fired only 15 before his rifle jammed. He then returned to his car to retrieve a handgun.

Chronister described the gunman’s motive as singular. “He was there intent on one purpose, and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill them,” the sheriff said. The attack occurred on Wednesday, with the sheriff providing these details during a news conference on Thursday.