BRANDON, Fla. — A $2,500 delinquent debt, a threat made hours before the shooting and a heavily armed man appearing at Citi's Tampa campus.
Investigators are now revealing what they say led up to the deadly shooting that sent thousands of employees running for safety.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister gave the most detailed account yet of the attack during a news conference Thursday, identifying both the suspected gunman and the woman who was killed.
Authorities identified the suspect as 35-year-old Jacob Pearson of Orlando. The sheriff said Pearson was married, had a 7-year-old child and had no criminal record.
The victim was identified as 41-year-old Leanne Selman of Palm Harbor. Citi said Selman had worked for the company for nine years. She was described as a valued and beloved employee who worked in human resources as a learning advisor.
New video shown during the sheriff's news conference also provided a closer look at how quickly the shooting unfolded and how employees responded when gunfire erupted on a campus where approximately 3,200 people were working that day.
Sheriff says threat came hours before shooting
According to the sheriff, the chain of events began around 9 a.m.
Investigators say Pearson had received a court summons connected to a delinquent $2,500 payment he owed Citi.
The sheriff said Pearson then contacted an attorney's office contracted by Citi for collections.
During that call, Pearson allegedly threatened to go there with an AR-15 and a bulletproof vest if the court case was not canceled.
“Unless you want me to go over there with my AR-15, my bulletproof vest, and my insanity, you mf and cancel this court case. Do you understand me? They're only an hour and three minutes away, so the last thing you want to do is f with me,” the Sheriff says Pearson spoke verbatim.
The law firm took the threat seriously and contacted Citi's head of security.
Citi's security leader then contacted the Orlando Police Department and asked officers to check on Pearson, according to the sheriff.
When officers arrived at Pearson's home, the sheriff said he was already gone.
Pearson's wife told officers he had left angry and had not said where he was going, according to the sheriff.
Meanwhile, Citi security contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
A supervisor and deputy were sent to the Tampa campus.
But as law enforcement was arriving, the situation changed.
The sheriff said the supervisor was communicating with Citi security when he suddenly heard gunfire.
The security officer reportedly told him, "Courtyard, courtyard," before hanging up.
New video shows suspect entering Citi campus
The new video shown Thursday provided investigators' most detailed visual timeline of what happened next.
According to the sheriff, Pearson crashed through a gate leading into the courtyard.
He got out of his vehicle carrying a rifle.
Investigators say Selman was the first Citi employee he encountered.
The sheriff said Pearson shot her three times before his rifle malfunctioned.
He told reporters Pearson then returned to his vehicle, retrieved a handgun and returned to Selman as she was attempting to crawl away.
The sheriff described the shooting as an execution.
Investigators said there was no connection between Pearson and Selman.
"Unfortunately, this is a circumstance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," the sheriff said.
He said Selman "wasn't able to get away quick enough, and she paid with her life."
About 3,200 employees were on campus
Investigators say Pearson then entered the cafeteria.
It was just after noon.
The sheriff said approximately 3,200 employees were on the campus, which can hold about 5,000 workers. Many employees were around the cafeteria and courtyard because it was lunchtime.
The video showed Pearson moving through the cafeteria as employees fled.
"All the employees there heard the gunshots, saw what was happening, and they immediately either ran off campus or went to find some place to hide and secure to try to save their own lives," the sheriff said.
The sheriff called particular attention to the items employees left behind.
Backpacks and other personal belongings remained scattered across the area.
"Some of them, their glasses fell off. Some of them ran out of their shoes," he said. "But they were concerned with one thing, and that one thing was saving their own life yesterday."
Security officer credited with stopping gunman
Investigators say Pearson then made his way farther inside the Citi building.
That's where he encountered John Fraley, a member of Citi's security team and a Marine Corps veteran.
The sheriff said Fraley heard the gunshots and positioned himself inside a men's restroom.
When Pearson approached, Fraley opened fire, according to investigators.
Pearson returned fire.
The sheriff said Fraley continued shooting and struck Pearson five times.
Pearson was later taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died.
From the time Pearson entered the campus until he was stopped, the sheriff said less than a minute had passed.
The sheriff repeatedly credited Fraley with preventing the attack from becoming significantly worse.
"This member of the Citibank security team saved a lot of lives yesterday," he said.
Investigators said Pearson arrived with 90 rounds of ammunition.
The sheriff described the shooting as a targeted attack against Citi, saying investigators believe Pearson blamed the company for his debt situation.
"He was intent on killing Citibank employees yesterday," the sheriff said.
Hundreds of deputies responded
The sheriff said 367 deputies ultimately responded as the agency treated the incident as an active shooter situation.
At that point, investigators did not know whether there was another shooter.
Deputies, SWAT members, K-9 teams and other responding agencies began searching the massive campus while helping employees evacuate.
A reunification location was established nearby so employees could contact their families.
The sheriff said some employees were so shaken they did not want to drive home and instead had relatives pick them up.
State and federal partners also responded.
The sheriff said the massive response was necessary because authorities initially had limited information and needed to make sure every part of the campus was cleared.
Four other people taken to hospitals were not shot
Officials also clarified information about four other people who were reported injured Wednesday.
None had been shot.
The sheriff said one person suffered a busted lip. Another had a busted lip and abrasions after apparently falling during the evacuation.
A pregnant employee also went to the hospital as a precaution.
A fourth person was transported by Hillsborough County Fire Rescue after experiencing chest pain.
All four were treated and released, according to the sheriff.
Citi remembers Leanne Selman
Citi leadership said its immediate focus is supporting Selman's family and the company's approximately 9,500 employees in the Tampa area.
Ed Skyler, Citi's head of Enterprise Services and Public Affairs, described Selman as a "bright light."
"She was valued. She was beloved," Skyler said. "You could tell the impact she had, not just in her work, but the impact she had at our site, and how people enjoy being around her."
Citi CEO Jane Fraser traveled to Tampa following the shooting, according to Skyler.
The company has also begun working with employees as they process what happened.
Citi does not plan to demand employees return to the campus Monday or in the immediate future.
"It's really important for us to recognize the traumatic events that our colleagues experienced, to provide support for them, and not do anything to exacerbate the trauma that they've experienced," Skyler said.
Workplace safety expert: Have a plan before you need it
Ernie Williams, founder of Go to Green, said the conversation surrounding safety should begin long before anyone hears a gunshot or an emergency alert.
"Have a plan," Williams said. "Make sure everybody that's around you understands what's going on."
Williams said people can initially struggle to accept that something dangerous is actually happening.
In an office environment, an employee may hear an alarm or commotion and initially assume it is a drill or another routine event.
Williams said that hesitation is exactly why preparation matters.
"We as a human being have cognitive dissonance," Williams said. "We're always going to think the best of a bad situation."
His advice is straightforward: know where the exits are before an emergency happens.
"If you want to win a gunfight, don't be in one," Williams said.
But he cautioned that simply running without understanding the environment can create another danger, particularly inside a building where acoustics can make it difficult to determine where gunfire is coming from.
That's why he recommends identifying exits when entering an unfamiliar building and talking through emergency plans with coworkers or family members.
"When I walk into a building, I know where the exits are," Williams said.
He also believes workplaces should practice emergency response plans, much in the same way they conduct fire drills.
For Williams, the lesson from those frantic moments at Citi is not that workers should hesitate to retrieve their belongings.
It's that people should think about how they would get to safety before they ever face the decision.
"Technology aside, have a plan," Williams said. "Talk the plan over with your family and make sure that everybody's prepared for the worst."
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