OCALA, Fla. – Ocala police are still making strides in their investigation as they continue their search for the man behind the gun in the deadly Paddock Mall shooting but as that search goes on, News 6 learned the shooting suspect still has a separate case open.
A bench warrant for Albert Shell Jr. details a case he has been dealing with since July.
Records show Shell was accused of hitting his girlfriend at the time, resulting in a battery charge.
In the report, the victim told police that Shell kicked in the front door of their shared home and accused her of cheating on him.
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That incident was just one case, but looking through other court records, News 6 learned that Shell is known to police.
There were more than 10 cases in which Shell was found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony dating back to 2002.
As a recap, it was the deadly shooting at the Paddock Mall this past Saturday that started the search for Shell.
Ocala police said Shell shot and killed one man and injured another woman two days before Christmas
From there, a series of events quickly unfolded. First was the response from Ocala police, who secured the mall Saturday night where News 6 spoke with witnesses.
News 6 Investigative Reporter Eric Sandoval at that time asked one witness, “What happened inside the store at that point when the shots rang out?”
“Everybody at first was kind of like just still, and then everybody kept looking around, and then I guess there was some people screaming, and we went down the long, long hallway, and I guess it led to the outside,” the witness said.
The next day, News 6 learned more about the victim in all of this — David Barron — finding out he was a beloved tattoo artist.
Cicely Robertson said Barron was her tattoo artist. She said friends nicknamed him “Dirty.”
“Dirty was a nice person. He was loving, giving, he would give you the shirt off his back, he always motivated you to do the right thing,” Robertson said.
Fast forwarding to Tuesday when the mall first opened back up after this deadly shooting, Ocala police ramped up their search for Shell by issuing a reward for information.
In addition, investigators sent out a picture of a man who took Shell’s hat. The search lasted a day, and the man was found and the hat returned.
Police said the hat had potential “DNA evidence.”
As the search for Shell continues, police advise people to not approach Shell, but instead give them a call.
As a reminder, there is a $10,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.
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