A 40-year-old Florida woman has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly opened fire on a storage facility employee who caught her sleeping in a unit, in violation of the lease agreement.
Kandice Jo Pierce was arrested following the shooting, which took place around 10 a.m. Saturday at Public Storage in the 4000 block of Babcock Street in Palm Bay, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, the employee was doing her morning rounds when she spotted two females who appeared to be living in one of the units. She told them they were not allowed to live or sleep there. Pierce told the victim she “was the one that rented the unit and they should be allowed to stay there,” police wrote.
The employee said that if they left, she would not report them to management. The victim then began to walk away, but Pierce called her back. According to the affidavit, the employee then heard a loud bang and felt pain in her face. She had been shot.
Pierce ran away, while the employee ran and hid under a desk, where she called 911 for help. Police said the victim had a small entry wound on her face below the eye, and the bullet remained in her face.
Officers later found two spent shell casings near the unit. Investigators identified Pierce as the suspect because her name was on the lease.
A detective from a nearby agency, who had tried to help Pierce with housing about a month earlier, said the other person in the unit was her 16-year-old daughter. Deputies found the girl at a nearby gas station.
The daughter told investigators that her mother was upset that they were being kicked out of the storage unit, so she shot at the employee twice, the affidavit stated.
Pierce was not with her daughter at the time. Deputies later found her in front of a nearby business and arrested her.
According to the affidavit, what began as a routine check by the employee turned violent within moments, after she had offered to let the matter go without informing management. The account of the incident comes from the police affidavit, and the allegations against Pierce have not been proven in court.
She remains in the Brevard County Jail without bond. Her next court date is set for Nov. 10.