A 55-year-old man from Palm Coast, Florida, has been taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder.
His criminal conviction is a result of a shooting that he initiated at a Best Western hotel in southwestern Kentucky. The gunfire took the life of an innocent bystander.
Robert Pannell has also been charged with assault, wanton endangerment, disorderly conduct, menacing, and resisting arrest, according to the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting occurred after an altercation in the parking lot between Pannell and a couple. Pannell, who was staying at the hotel, had allegedly demanded a cigarette lighter from the couple. When they couldn’t provide one, he entered the hotel with a handgun and began firing indiscriminately.
During his reckless shooting, several bulltets struck an employee that worked at the hotel.
The employee, who was located on the first floor with multiple gunshot wounds, died as a result of the shooting. No one else was injured as a result of the shooter’s reckless actions.
The Paducah police quickly apprehended Pannell in the hotel parking lot, and he is currently being held at the McCracken County Jail on a combined bond of $2.5 million. The investigation is ongoing.