Left: Kandice Jo Pierce (Brevard County Sheriff's Office). Right: Public Storage in Palm Bay, Florida (Google Maps).
A 40-year-old woman allegedly opened fire on a Florida storage facility employee after she was caught sleeping in a unit, in violation of the lease agreement.
Kandice Jo Pierce is charged with attempted murder.
The shooting occurred 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 storage facility employee was doing her morning rounds when she spotted two females who appeared to be living in a unit. The employee told them that they were not allowed to live or sleep in the unit. 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 if they left, she would not report them to management. The victim began to walk away when 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, and the employee ran and hid under a desk, where she called 911 for help. The victim had a small entry wound on her face below the eye. The bullet remained in her face, police said.
Cops 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 tried to help Pierce with housing about a month ago said the other person in the unit was her 16-year-old daughter. Deputies found the daughter at a nearby gas station.
The girl said 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, but deputies later found her in front of a nearby business and arrested her. She remains in the Brevard County Jail without bond. Her next court date is set for Nov. 10.