Florida police have named the suspect in a deadly weekend shooting at a shopping center packed with holiday shoppers, along with a possible accomplice in the case.
Ocala police said Albert J. Shell Jr., 39, shot and killed David Nathaniel Barron, 40, at Paddock Mall on Saturday in what they believe was a targeted hit.
Officials also released surveillance footage of a second man who may have “tampered with crucial evidence by removing the shooter’s red hat” after the violence sent shoppers running for safety.
“That hat may contain valuable DNA evidence,” the department said, asking for the public’s help in naming the unidentified man.
A previous mugshot of Shell, who is now wanted for first-degree murder and remains at large, shows him with a cross tattooed on his forehead and a teardrop under one eye.
Authorities said the shooter hit Barron several times during the pre-Christmas chaos around 3:40 p.m., including in the head.
One woman was hit in the leg and is expected to survive, according to WESH.
Police said Shell managed to flee the mall and remains at large.
Police are searching for Albert J. Shell in connection with the shooting that left a man dead at a shopping center packed with shoppers Saturday. Ocala Police/X
The weapon used in the murder was discarded and it was later recovered by police.
Police closed the crowded shopping center for 12 hours as they searched unsuccessfully for the killer.
Ocala police are offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to Shell’s arrest.
Josh Pawchi, who huddled inside Kay Jewelers with his parents, posted a video on Facebook showing his stepfather telling someone on a cell phone that two people were “shooting each other” outside the mall’s Chick-fil-A .
Police say a second man picked up Shell’s bloody hat after the murder. Ocala Police/X
“He chased him and kept shooting at him,” he is heard saying in the images. “They were chasing each other.”
A local journalist who was volunteering at the mall about an hour outside of Orlando said she saw the killer just a few feet away from her.
“I was volunteering at the packing station that raises money for the domestic violence shelter, and the gunman was probably about 10 feet away,” said witness Jennifer Hunt Murty.
“We didn’t really have any protection other than tables with tablecloths on them, but we dropped to the ground and everyone else was running, so we were very close to the shooting when it happened and we had very little protection to hide from.”
One person was shot to death and a woman was shot in the leg amid the chaos. Joan Ivette Serrano/Facebook Police were unable to locate the shooter after closing the mall. Joan Ivette Serrano/Facebook
Witness video taken from inside Bath and Body Works shows horrified customers taking cover behind registers and running for their lives.
Barron was a tattoo artist and father who lived with his 17-year-old son, the boy’s mother told WESH.
“He won’t have his dad there to celebrate his 18th birthday…he’ll graduate next year. I was living with his father at the time… so it’s a big blow to him,” Cheatara Taylor said.
The mother of Barron’s oldest daughter called Shell “the Grinch.” “She took Christmas away from my baby and all of her children,” La Evans told the station.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn