Florida police have named a suspect in a fatal shooting over the weekend at a mall full of Christmas shoppers – along with a possible accomplice in the case.
Ocala Police say Albert J. Shell Jr. 39, shot and killed David Nathaniel Barron, 40, at Paddock Mall Saturday in what they believe was a target.
Officials also released surveillance footage of a second man who may have “disturbed vital evidence by taking the shooter’s red hat” after the violence sent shoppers scrambling to escape.
“The hat may contain valuable DNA evidence,” the department said, asking for the public’s help in naming the unidentified man.
A previous photo of Shell — who is now wanted for first-degree murder and remains on the run — shows him with a cross tattooed on his forehead and a teardrop under one eye.
Authorities said the gunman struck Barron multiple times during the pre-Christmas commotion around 3:40 p.m. — including in the head.
A woman was injured in the leg and is expected to survive, according to WESH.
Police said Shell managed to flee the mall and is still at large.
Police are searching for Albert J. Shell in connection with a shooting that left a man dead at a mall crowded with shoppers on Saturday. Ocala Police/X
He threw away the gun used in the murder, and it was later recovered by the police.
Police locked down the crowded mall for 12 hours while unsuccessfully searching for the killer.
Ocala police are offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to Shell’s arrest.
Josh Pawchi, who was crouched inside Kay Jewelers with his parents, posted a video to Facebook showing his stepfather telling someone on a cell phone that two people were “shooting at each other” outside the mall’s Chick-fil-A.
Police said the second man took a bloody Shell hat after the murder. Ocala Police/X
“He chased after him and kept shooting at him,” he is heard saying in the recording. “They chase each other.”
A local reporter volunteering at the mall about an hour from Orlando said he saw the killer just steps away.
“I was volunteering at a wrap station that was collecting money for domestic violence shelters, and the gunman was probably about 10 feet away,” said witness Jennifer Hunt Murty.
“We didn’t really have any cover other than a table with linen on it but we went to the floor, and everyone was running, so we were very close to the shooting when it happened, and had little cover to hide.”
One person was shot dead and a woman was shot in the leg in the chaos. Joan Ivette Serrano/Facebook Police were unable to locate the shooter after locking down the mall. Joan Ivette Serrano/Facebook
Watch video footage from inside Bath and Body Works showing terrified customers taking cover behind the cash register and running for their lives.
Barron is a tattoo artist and father who lives 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 be graduating next year. He lives with his father at the moment … so it’s a big blow for him,” Cheatara Taylor said.
The mother of Barron’s oldest daughter calls Shell “the Grinch.” He took Christmas away from my baby and all his children,” La Evans told the station.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
