TAMPA, Fla. — A dispute over a $2,556.40 balance on a Best Buy credit card issued by Citibank allegedly led a 35-year-old Orlando man to attack the bank’s Tampa-area office campus, killing an employee before he was fatally shot by an armed security officer, authorities said.
Jacob Pearson was angry after receiving a summons in a debt-collection lawsuit filed by Citibank and threatened the bank hours before the Nov. 4 shooting, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, according to the Associated Press and ABC News.
Court records cited by American Banker show Citibank filed a small-claims case Oct. 23 seeking $2,556.40 allegedly owed on Pearson’s My Best Buy Visa Platinum credit card. Pearson had been summoned to a court hearing scheduled for February.
Called Threat in to Attorney
About 9 a.m. on the day of the attack, Pearson allegedly called an attorney’s office handling the debt case and threatened to arrive at Citi with an AR-15 rifle and body armor unless the case was canceled, Chronister said. The attorney alerted Citi security, which contacted Orlando police. Officers went to Pearson’s home but learned he had already left, according to ABC News.
Authorities said Pearson drove to the bank’s campus in the Tampa suburb of Brandon, crashed his vehicle through a barrier and into a courtyard where employees were eating lunch, then opened fire. He fatally shot Leanne Selman, 41, a human resources employee who had worked for Citi for nine years. Investigators said Selman had no known connection to Pearson.
Rifle Jams
Pearson’s rifle jammed after several shots, and he retrieved a handgun before entering a building, authorities said. An armed member of Citi’s security team confronted and shot Pearson in a cafeteria. Pearson later died at a hospital. Four other people were treated for injuries or medical concerns, but no others were shot, according to AP reporting.
Chronister said Pearson had brought about 90 rounds of ammunition to the campus, where roughly 3,200 employees were working. The sheriff credited the security response with preventing additional deaths.
‘Heartbroken’ Over Death’
In a statement reported by American Banker, Citi said it was heartbroken by Selman’s death and extended condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. The company said employees at the campus could work remotely following the attack.
According to Tampa Bay 28, the debt-collection complaint identified the account as a My Best Buy Visa Platinum card. Investigators described the lawsuit and summons as the apparent trigger for the violence; they did not identify any prior relationship between Pearson and the victim.
