A chilling surveillance clip captures the final seconds of a lunchtime massacre plot at a sprawling Citibank campus in Brandon, Florida, as a shirtless, bald gunman clutching a long gun is dropped mid-stride by a quick-thinking Marine Corps veteran serving as armed security.
Jacob Pearson, 35, of Orlando, had already “executed” 41-year-old learning advisor LeAnne Selman in an outdoor courtyard after ramming his sedan through a security gate around 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. Pearson, irate over a $2,500 credit-card debt summons, had earlier phoned a collection attorney’s office with a graphic threat: “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.”
Video released by authorities shows Pearson, open black jacket flapping over his bare torso, blue jeans, and a rifle in hand, bursting into the building’s cafeteria area where thousands of employees were eating or fleeing. He advances down a hallway and into a kitchen-like space with microwaves and a yellow caution sign visible, then suddenly drops to a knee or crouch as return fire rings out.
That was John Fraley, a Citibank vice president of operations and trained Marine veteran on the security team. Hearing the initial shots, Fraley took a tactical position near a men’s restroom doorway. The two traded fire; Fraley struck Pearson five times. Pearson was rushed to Tampa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had carried roughly 90 rounds.
Chronister called Fraley a hero who “ran toward” danger when most would run away. “His reign of terror ended before it even began,” the sheriff said. Pearson had no prior criminal record and was married with a young child; Selman, of Palm Harbor, was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time” while eating outside and had worked at Citi for nine years in security and investigative services training. Four other people suffered minor injuries while scrambling for exits.
Employees later described chaos as people sprinted across the courtyard or hid, with deputies arriving within minutes of the first shots. Citibank has offered support resources and said it will not force an immediate return to the site. The campus, home to about 3,200 workers, sits near I-75.
The graphic footage, split-screen surveillance views of Pearson lumbering forward then collapsing while still gripping his weapon, has circulated widely, underscoring how a single armed, trained responder ended what authorities say was an intent to “hunt any human being he could find and kill.”
Sheriff Chronister’s office continues to investigate the exact sequence and Pearson’s full movements before the crash-through. Selman’s family has been notified; colleagues remembered her as a bright, well-liked presence.
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