Gunman 'Picked the Wrong Person,' Florida Real Estate Agent Says
Video shows person of interest in attacks by phony home buyer.
— -- Florida police released surveillance video showing a person of interest in the attacks on two real estate agents.
The footage, recorded at a Walmart store, shows a man wearing a white shirt and slacks.
The attacks happened Wednesday in St. Petersburg. The first victim, who fears the release of her identity, told ABC News a man put her in handcuffs, and then put on his gloves.
The man then called her husband, demanding $50,000. Her husband said no.
“My first thought is, ‘I am going to die,’ my second thought, ‘Was he going to hurt me?’” the woman said.
“He just really couldn’t wrap his head around the whole situation that I wasn’t going to bow to his demands, and he just picked the wrong person,” she said.
The man scheduled the first appointment for 1 p.m. that day using a fake name, police said. Once inside, authorities say the man tied the victim’s hands and feet before calling her husband demanding a ransom. But after something spooked the man, he fled.
About an hour later, police say, the man pulled a gun on another real estate agent a few miles away. The man was interrupted again, this time by another real estate agent.
Prior to the release of the surveillance footage, police released a sketch of the man, wearing a straw hat, large sunglasses and a goatee.
Authorities are worried the man will try to strike again.
“There was a level of planning that went into these crimes, and that’s what makes us fear he will strike again,” St. Petersburg Assistant Police Chief Jim Previtara said.