Florida Man Fatally Shoots Hotel Employee, Assaults Couple Who Denied Him Cigarette Lighter

A Florida man has been arrested for fatally shooting a Kentucky hotel employee after a couple in the parking lot denied him a cigarette lighter, police said.

The 55-year-old Palm Coast man, Robert Pannell, allegedly opened fire at an unidentified woman at a hotel in Paducah after assaulting a couple in the parking lot.

The hotel employee suffered multiple gunshot wounds to her head and body. She was transported to a local hospital and was being kept alive so her organs can be donated, McCracken County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Sunday.

Deputies were called to the hotel Saturday based on reports of an active shooter. They found a woman on the first floor of the hotel. Pannell was located outside the hotel and was detained immediately.

Pannell faces multiple charges, including assault first-degree, wanton endangerment first-degree, menacing, disorderly conduct second-degree and resisting arrest. He is not facing murder charges as yet but investigators have said Pannell will likely face more charges.

It is unclear why Pannell was in Paducah and what exactly led to the fatal shooting. He was reportedly staying at the hotel at the time of the incident. The condition of the couple also remains unknown.

Detectives believe that after the alleged confrontation with the couple in the parking lot, Pannell entered the hotel with a handgun and opened fire indiscriminately.

"Multiple people were in close proximity to Pannell when he indiscriminately fired his handgun. At some point, Pannell threw his handgun inside the lobby of the hotel," the police said.

Pannell is being held at the McCracken County Jail on a combined bond of $2.5 million, NY Post reported, citing court documents.

In a similar incident a few months back, a man was stabbed to death in New York after an argument over a cigarette outside a parking garage. The 24-year-old Brooklyn man, Carlos Rosario, was allegedly stabbed in his torso while he was walking with his girlfriend outside a parking garage off Times Square. The fatal attack happened after a group of three men stopped Rosario to ask for a cigarette, which led to an argument, investigators said.