Florida man charged with murder in fatal mall shooting packed with last-minute Christmas shoppers
Police arrested a 39-year-old man early Monday on a murder charge in what appeared to be a targeted shooting at a Florida mall that also wounded a bystander and sent panicked last-minute Christmas shoppers scrambling for safety.
OCALA, Fla. — Police arrested a 39-year-old man early Monday on a murder charge in what appeared to be a targeted shooting at a Florida mall that also wounded a bystander and sent panicked last-minute Christmas shoppers scrambling for safety.
Acting on tips that poured in since the Dec. 23 shooting at Paddock Mall, officers surrounded a north Florida home around 1 a.m. Monday, Ocala police Chief Mike Balken said during a news conference. They negotiated with Albert Shell Jr. for about two hours before he was taken into custody without incident, he said, sharing a body cam video showing a shirtless Shell walking out of the house and surrendering to officers.
Shell was taken to the Marion County Jail in Ocala on charges of premeditated first-degree murder in the killing of David Nathaniel Barron, 40, and attempted premeditated first-degree murder for shooting an innocent bystander in the leg, the chief said. Court records did not list an attorney for Shell.
The chief did not expand on a relationship between Barron and Shell, other than to say they possibly had worked together.
“No reason to believe this was anything other than a beef between two individuals that was resolved in a mall with a gun,” Balken said.
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