Citibank Center deadly shooting: What we know about the victims

BRANDON, Fla. - A nine-year Citibank employee died Wednesday morning after an armed man stormed a Tampa office campus and opened fire, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Citibank Center shooting

What we know:

LeAnne Selman, 41, of Palm Harbor, died Wednesday after a gunman breached the Citibank Center courtyard, according to deputies. The 41-year-old worked in human resources as a learning advisor for Citi security investigative services and was remembered across the corporate campus as a beloved employee.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the shooter crashed a car through the courtyard gate around 9 a.m. and immediately shot Selmon three times. When his firearm malfunctioned, the man retrieved a handgun from his car, returned to Selman as she tried to crawl away, and killed her, according to Chronister. 

Four other workers were hurt during the chaotic evacuation as 3,200 employees ran or hid across campus. Officials said one person suffered a cut lip, another sustained scrapes in a fall, a man experienced chest pains, and a pregnant woman went to a hospital for cautionary evaluation; all four were treated and released.

Chronister said security officer John Fraley, a trained Marine Corps veteran, took a tactical position in a men's restroom and confronted the gunman inside the cafeteria. Both exchanged gunfire before Fraley shot the suspect five times, and the gunman later died at Tampa General Hospital.

Ongoing campus investigation

What we don't know:

Authorities have not stated whether the shooter had any previous personal interactions with Selman before singling her out in the courtyard. Officials have also not disclosed how the gunman obtained the firearms used in the assault.

Court summons dispute

The backstory:

Deputies identified the gunman as Jacob Pearson, 35, an Orlando resident with a wife, a 7-year-old child, and no prior criminal record. The sheriff said the incident originated around 9 a.m. Wednesday when Pearson called a collection law office contracted by Citibank over a court summons for a delinquent $2,500 debt.

During the call, Pearson issued an explicit death threat, according to the sheriff. The sheriff said Pearson stated, "Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity, you mf’ing cancel this court case. 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."

Rapid security response

What they're saying:

The law firm alerted Citibank's head of security, a retired Secret Service agent, who deemed the threat legitimate and requested an Orlando Police Department welfare check. Officers discovered Pearson had already left his home visibly angry, prompting Citibank security to notify the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to dispatch deputies directly to the Tampa site.

The sheriff praised the veteran guard who stopped Pearson from harming others inside the building. The sheriff said, "He was there intent on one purpose and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill. Because of the heroic actions of this Citibank security officer, vice president of operations, his reign of terror ended before it even began."

What is the Citibank Center in Brandon?

According to DPR Construction, the Citibank Center is a 588,000-square-foot campus that is made up of four 130,000-square-foot, three-story office buildings and a 138,000-square-foot amenities building. It was designed to accommodate 

DPR Construction’s website states that the campus was meant to accommodate approximately 2,5000 employees and has dining services, a fitness center, child care facilities, an ATM/branch bank and personal service shops such as newsstands, a drug store, a dry cleaner, hairdresser and a shoe repair shop.

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