crime
Marine vet stops gunman at Tampa Citibank after debt rage
Jacob Pearson, 35, drove from Orlando to Tampa and killed Leanne Selman, 41, over a $2,500 debt summons. Marine vet John Fraley shot him dead before he could find more victims among 3,200 employees.
A Marine veteran working as a security guard at Citibank’s Tampa office shot and killed a gunman who had murdered a woman over a $2,500 debt, the New York Post reported.
Jacob Pearson, 35, drove from Orlando to the Citibank campus on Nov. 5 after receiving a court summons for the debt. He crashed his car through a gate, shot Leanne Selman, 41, three times with a rifle, then returned to his car for a handgun and killed her as she tried to crawl away.
Pearson then entered the campus cafeteria, where 3,200 employees were working, looking for more victims. John Fraley, a Marine Corps veteran and Citibank security vice president, took a tactical position in the men’s restroom and shot Pearson five times. Pearson died at Tampa General Hospital.
The day before, Pearson had called an attorney’s office contracted by Citibank for collections. “Unless you want me to go over there with my AR 15, my bulletproof vest, and my insanity, you MFing cancel this court case,” he said, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
The attorney’s office contacted Citibank’s head of security, a retired Secret Service agent, who called Orlando police for a welfare check. By the time officers arrived, Pearson had already left for Tampa.
Pearson was a married father of a 7-year-old with no previous criminal record.
What the coverage missed
The New York Post report is thorough on the shooting and the heroism of Fraley. It does not examine how Pearson got from a phone call about a debt to a mass shooting in 24 hours.
Pearson received a court summons for a $2,500 debt. He called an attorney’s office and made a specific threat involving an AR-15. The attorney’s office called Citibank security, who called Orlando police. Police went to Pearson’s home for a welfare check. He was not there. He was already driving to Tampa.
The system worked as designed. The threat was reported. Security was alerted. Police were called. The welfare check happened. It was too late because Pearson had already left. The gap between the threat and the response was hours, and Pearson used it to drive 84 miles.
The Post report also does not mention whether Citibank warned its Tampa employees after receiving the threat. The head of security contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and detectives were sent to the campus. But 3,200 employees were at work when Pearson arrived. If they were warned, the warning did not get them out.
What I think
Fraley saved lives. He heard gunshots, took a position, and stopped a man who was hunting people in a cafeteria. He is a Marine veteran who did what he was trained to do. The sheriff called his actions heroic. They were.
Pearson was not a criminal before Nov. 5. He was a married father with a job and no record. A $2,500 debt and a court summons sent him to a building with 3,200 people in it. The distance between a debt summons and a mass shooting is shorter than it should be, and the coverage does not explore it.
The warning system failed. Pearson made a threat naming his weapon. The threat was reported to security, who reported it to police. Police did a welfare check. Pearson was already gone. The system moved at the speed of a welfare check. Pearson moved at the speed of a car on I-4. The car was faster.