Store owners facing big bills after SWAT cuts holes through gates looking for Ocala mall shooter

Store owners stuck with bill after mall shooting

The man who killed someone and shot a woman in the leg at the Paddock Mall in Ocala on December 23 is still on the run. The reward for information leading to his arrest could earn you $15,000. However, that isn’t the only thing the police might be shelling out money for. SWAT officers cut holes through the gates of stores in the mall, and the store owners aren’t happy about the bills they’re facing for repairs.

OCALA, Fla. - The man who killed someone and shot a woman in the leg at the Paddock Mall in Ocala on December 23 is still on the run. The reward for information leading to his arrest could earn you $15,000.

However, that isn’t the only thing the police might be shelling out money for. SWAT officers cut holes through the gates of stores in the mall, and the store owners aren’t happy about the bills they’re facing for repairs.

Ben Davis owns Sea the Source, around the corner from where the shooting happened. He says he guided people to his back room to hide out until things were safe.

"I was just up here folding shirts, and everybody started running," he recalled. "The mall was a mess because people just ran. So there was food and shoes and everything everywhere."

He isn’t all that bothered about the gunfire; he thinks that could happen anywhere. What he is upset about is what happened after. He says people hid in his back room for a short while, then cleared out of the mall, so he locked up and left. A short time later, he got a call from Ocala police asking for surveillance video from his store. That’s when he learned SWAT had actually already made it inside his store by sawing through his gate.

"I was upset, I was like, ‘Why? Why did you cut in my store? I did what you’re supposed to do."

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He isn’t the only one. The owner of Express Jewelry Repair, Jim Lefebvre, says he’s facing a $14,000 dollar bill for damage SWAT did to his gate.

"I never expected to have to replace a gate because it got tore into. So I didn't get the insurance," said Lefebvre. "I didn't think I needed it. I never expected a situation like this to develop."

Both store owners say they wish the police would have just called them, so they could give them the key to the store instead of breaking their way in.

"It’s just destruction of private property," said Davis.

Lefebvre says he doesn’t feel he should be responsible for the cost of the repairs.

"I'm a supporter of the police department and I support, you know, them tearing into gates, knocking down doors, doing whatever they have to do to catch bad guys. But I think that you have to you have to do those kinds of things in a very measured way."

Ocala Police told FOX 35/FOX 51 they do have insurance for this type of thing and added in a statement:

"We understand the frustration that many business owners in the Paddock Mall may have experienced, and we are looking into the matter. Our sympathies go out to everyone who was affected by this tragic shooting, including the Paddock Mall business owners. We will continue to do our best to serve and protect our community."