{"id":229983,"date":"2026-11-06T22:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T22:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/man-who-killed-1-at-citibank-office-targeted-company-over-a-2500-debt-collection-florida-sheriff-says-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T22:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T22:21:12","slug":"man-who-killed-1-at-citibank-office-targeted-company-over-a-2500-debt-collection-florida-sheriff-says-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/man-who-killed-1-at-citibank-office-targeted-company-over-a-2500-debt-collection-florida-sheriff-says-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who killed 1 at Citibank office targeted company over a $2,500 debt collection, Florida sheriff says – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A gunman who killed a woman before being fatally shot by a security guard<\/a> at Citibank\u2019s sprawling office complex in Tampa targeted the campus because he was angry over a $2,500 debt collection, a sheriff said Thursday.
About three hours before Wednesday\u2019s shooting, Jacob Pearson called an attorney affiliated with Citibank and threatened violence, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told a news conference.
On the phone, Pearson demanded that the lawyer cancel a court hearing over Pearson\u2019s unpaid credit card debt \u201cunless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest and my insanity,\u201d Chronister said.
The sheriff said Pearson, 35, had no criminal history. Pearson\u2019s father, Richard Pearson, told The Associated Press that he had never seen an indication that his son was capable of carrying out a violent shooting.
The attack unfolded as many of the 3,200 employees at Citibank\u2019s campus in suburban Tampa were eating lunch.
Pearson drove from his home in Orlando to Tampa, about 90 miles away, crashed his car through a fence at the campus and plowed into a courtyard where employees were eating lunch, Chronister said.
The sheriff said Pearson got out of his car with a rifle and shot the first employee he saw. His rifle jammed after three shots, he said, and the gunman then retrieved a handgun from his car and again shot the same person, who died.
She was identified as 41-year-old Leanne Selman, who worked in human resources.
Selman had worked for Citibank for nine years and was \u201ca beloved employee,\u201d said Ed Skyler, spokesman for Citibank parent Citigroup. The sheriff said there was \u201czero connection\u201d between Selman and her killer.
\u201cHe was there intent on one purpose, and that purpose was to hunt any human being he could find and kill them,\u201d Chronister said.
As employees scattered to flee the gunfire, Pearson entered the building and walked through a cafeteria. An executive who is part of Citibank\u2019s armed security team shot the gunman five times before he could hurt anyone else. Pearson was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The violence could have been far worse, the sheriff said. Pearson brought 90 rounds of ammunition to the campus, he said, but fired just 15 times before he was stopped.
No one else was shot, the sheriff said. Four people were treated at a hospital for minor injuries from fleeing and medical concerns such as chest pains.
Selman\u2019s father declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday.
Chronister said Citibank\u2019s security team and law enforcement were already on the lookout for Pearson after the attorney he called Wednesday morning reported the threat.
He said police went to Pearson\u2019s home in Orlando, but were told by his wife that he had already left. In Tampa, Hillsborough County deputies had just arrived at the Citibank complex to provide extra security when the gunman opened fire.
Court records in Orange County, where Orlando is located, show Citibank filed a complaint against Pearson on Oct. 23, saying he owed $2,556.40 in credit card debt. Pearson\u2019s bill for that amount was dated July 4, according to the court documents. The court issued a summons for Pearson to appear at a hearing Feb. 15.
Banks in Florida typically wait at least six months before they sue someone over defaulting on repayment, allowing late payment fees and other penalties to accumulate, said Scott Florin, an attorney specializing in consumer credit card debt.
Pearson\u2019s father said they last spoke by phone several weeks ago and that his son sounded fine. He said they did not discuss his son\u2019s financial situation.
Sheriff\u2019s investigators wrapped up evidence gathering at the Citibank complex by early Thursday. But Tampa employees can work remotely for now, said Skyler of Citigroup.
\u201cWe will not be demanding people return to the scene of this incident on Monday or in the very near future,\u201d Skyler said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for us to recognize the traumatic events that our colleagues experienced.\u201d
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeA gunman who killed a woman before being fatally shot by a security guard at Citibank\u2019s sprawling office complex in Tampa targeted the campus because he was angry over a $2,500 debt collection, a sheriff said Thursday.About three hours before Wednesday\u2019s shooting, Jacob Pearson called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}