Omar Santa Perez walked into the Fifth Third Center in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He killed three people and wounded two more. Four Cincinnati officers were there quickly, returning fire. Santa Perez, 29, died at the scene. The gun “appears to have been legally purchased,” said Police Chief Eliot Isaac, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Santa Perez’ neighbors saw a man that was becoming increasingly bitter after struggling to keep a job.
In his record is a smattering of low-level offenses, including refusing to leave the premises in Greenville, S.C., and traffic offenses, disorderly conduct, and marjiuana possession in Florida. Santa Perez hopped from job to job. Records show he’s been let go from companies at least twice. Santa Perez filed a lawsuit in 2017 against CNBC Universal Media LLC and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., alleging that the companies uncovered his identity and published private details about his life after extensive investigation of his personal devices. On June 25, federal Magistrate Karen Litkovitz, in her recommendation to dismiss the case, wrote that Santa Perez’s allegations were “rambling, difficult to decipher and borders on delusional.” All of his neighbors agreed that they didn’t anticipate Santa Perez to go on a shooting spree. “I can’t believe he would go do something like that,” said Christina Fischer, “or anybody would do something like that.”