A Florida Marine veteran was praised Thursday for stopping a gunman who drove onto a Citibank campus and attacked employees. Investigators said the suspect was angry over a delinquent $2,500 credit card debt.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister identified the security officer as John Fraley. He confronted 35-year-old Jacob Pearson after Pearson shot and killed a Citibank employee.
Chronister said the bank authorizes security staff with military or law enforcement training to carry firearms. Fraley could have fled, the sheriff said, but instead took a tactical position and risked his life to prevent further harm.
Pearson was married and had a 7-year-old child, according to the sheriff. He allegedly became enraged after receiving a court summons over the debt and called a law office handling collections for the bank around 9 a.m. Wednesday. During the call, he threatened to go there with a rifle and body armor unless the case was canceled.
Citibank’s head of security, a retired Secret Service agent, treated the threat as serious. The agent contacted Orlando police to request a welfare check and asked the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to send deputies to the campus.
Pearson nevertheless drove from his home in Orlando to the company’s Brandon campus, crashing through a gate into a courtyard where employees were gathered. He got out of his car carrying a rifle and shot 41-year-old learning adviser LeAnne Selmon three times, Chronister said. The rifle then malfunctioned.
Pearson returned to his car, retrieved a handgun and went back to Selmon, who was trying to crawl away, the sheriff said. Chronister said Pearson appeared intent on killing anyone he could find, and credited Fraley with ending the attack before more people were hurt.
Pearson then entered a cafeteria looking for additional victims, according to the sheriff. Fraley took cover in a men’s restroom and fired, hitting Pearson five times. Pearson was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died.
