OCALA, Fla. – A 39-year-old man suspected in a December shooting at an Ocala mall that left one man dead and a woman injured was arrested early Monday morning.
Albert J. Shell Jr. was named a suspect by the Ocala Police Department on Sunday afternoon and by about 2 a.m. Monday he was taken into custody without incident by the OPD and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Paddock had a warrant for his arrested on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Watch body camera footage of the arrest below:
The Ocala Police Department, in collaboration with the United States Marshals Service (Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force), has apprehended Albert Shell Jr., the murder suspect involved in the deadly shooting at the Paddock Mall that occurred on Dec. 23, 2023. pic.twitter.com/c15dzemijI
— Ocala Police (@ocalapd) January 8, 2024
A $20,000 reward was offered for tips leading to Shell’s arrest, but it’s unclear if investigators used a tip to locate him.
Around 3:40 p.m. Dec. 23, the Ocala Police Department responded to a shooting at the mall. Police initially described it as an “active shooting situation” but later said that they believed that the suspect fled the scene and was on the run.
They believe the shooting may have been targeted.
UPDATE: There is no longer an active shooting situation. There are multiple people injured. The suspect is believed to have fled. The mall is being evacuated at this time. Please avoid the area as police investigate. https://t.co/j8Uk5iYjob
— Ocala Police (@ocalapd) December 23, 2023
According to police, the man who was killed, later identified as 40-year-old David Barron, was found dead in a common area, and a woman was taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting came on the heels of two separate shootings reported in Ocala within around an hour of one another the night before, according to the police department.
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