Leanne Selman, 41, killed in Citibank shooting as heartbreaking details emerge about her final hours
A man opened fire at a Citibank office near Tampa, killing one employee over a $2,500 credit card debt. Before more fatalities could happen, a security guard and Marine veteran stopped him.
A security guard is being praised as a hero after he shot a gunman at a Citibank office complex near Tampa, Florida, preventing what officials say could have been a far deadlier attack. The shooting happened shortly after noon on Wednesday, November 4, at Citibank’s Sabal Center campus, where more than 3,200 people were working at the time.
One of the bank’s employees, 41-year-old Leanne Selman, was killed.
A threat over a $2,500 debt
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the gunman was 35-year-old Jacob Pearson from Orlando, who had no previous criminal record. The morning of the shooting he had been contacted about a court summons over a credit card debt of around $2,500 that he owed Citibank. He then made threats against the bank, saying he would bring a rifle and a bulletproof vest to its offices.
Citibank’s security team took the threat seriously and alerted the sheriff’s office, and deputies were sent to the campus. Shortly afterwards, Pearson crashed his car into the complex’s courtyard and opened fire, killing Selman, the first person he saw. She was from Palm Harbor and had worked at Citibank for nine years.
He then went into the building’s cafeteria as terrified employees ran for the exits or hid in offices and closets.
The hero Marine veteran
In the cafeteria he encountered John Fraley, 38, who is a Marine Corps veteran and works as a vice president at Citibank and is one of the bank’s armed security officers. According to the sheriff, he took cover in a men’s restroom, exchanged gunfire with Pearson and hit him five times.
Pearson was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died. Sheriff Chad Chronister said Fraley’s quick actions saved lives.
“John Fraley confronted this suspect and is a hero, plain and simple,” he said. “In a moment when most people would run away from danger, this guard ran toward it and stopped the threat within minutes of the first shots being fired.”
“He didn’t have to stop,” Chronister added. “He could have run and protected his own life, too.” Instead, the sheriff said, Fraley “took up a tactical position when he saw the suspect coming and made a decision.”
More than 300 officers responded to the scene and evacuated the campus over the following hours. Four people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, mostly from the evacuation, and have since been released from the hospital.
In a statement to employees, Citi CEO Jane Fraser called the shooting a “terrible tragedy for our Citi family.” “My heart goes out to our colleague’s loved ones, all our colleagues in Tampa and everyone affected by this horrific act of violence,” she wrote.