A woman was shot, and a suspect died after an exchange of gunfire with an armed security guard at a Citibank campus in Hillsborough County Wednesday afternoon, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Frank Loset.
Deputies received multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired at about 12:11 p.m. The first marked sheriff’s office unit arrived and entered the building at 12:12 p.m. Three minutes later, an armed Citibank security guard confronted the suspect in the cafeteria, and the two exchanged gunfire. The suspect was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died.
Loset said the suspect drove over several medians and across a grassy area before breaking through a secure fence and crashing into an outdoor seating area where people were having lunch. The suspect then got out of the vehicle carrying a rifle and shot a woman.
Authorities have not released the woman’s identity pending positive identification and notification of her next of kin. Investigators are also withholding the suspect’s identity while they verify information. Four other people were treated at a local hospital for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Their identities have not been released.
About 3,200 Citibank employees were on the property at the time of the shooting, Loset said. He said 367 sheriff’s office deputies responded, along with detectives, street crime units, SWAT and federal and local law enforcement partners.
Authorities spent about two and a half hours clearing the campus, which includes six or seven three-story buildings. Investigators searched and secured the buildings, including locked rooms. The sheriff’s office is interviewing witnesses and processing both the outdoor and indoor crime scenes, a process expected to continue for several hours and possibly into Thursday.
