Florida man accused of murdering hotel employee in Kentucky after couple declined to give him lighter

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Police hold press conference after University of Kentucky shooting

Police hold a press conference regarding a shooting at the University of Kentucky. (WDKY)

A Florida man was arrested for murder on Saturday after allegedly assaulting a couple in the parking lot of a Kentucky hotel then shooting and killing an employee, according to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office. 

In addition to first-degree murder, 55-year-old Robert Pannell was also charged with assault, wanton endangerment, disorderly conduct, menacing, and resisting arrest. 

Law enforcement officers were called to a Best Western hotel in southwestern Kentucky about an active shooter around 9:48 a.m. on Saturday morning. 

Robert Pannell, 55, allegedly opened fire at Best Western hotel on Saturday morning in Paducah, Kentucky, leaving an employee dead.  (McCracken County Sheriff's Office)

A Paducah police officer located Pannell in the parking lot and detained him, while a sheriff's deputy began searching the hotel and located the employee on the first floor with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body. 

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Detectives learned during the investigation that Pannell allegedly assaulted a couple in the parking lot after they couldn't give him a cigarette lighter. 

He then entered the hotel with a handgun and opened fire indiscriminately, according to the sheriff, leaving the employee dead. No one else was struck by gunfire. 

The Best Western hotel in Paducah, Kentucky, where a man shot and killed an employee on Saturday.  (Google Maps)

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Pannell is from Palm Coast, Florida, and was staying at the hotel at the time of the shooting. 

He is being held at the McCracken County Jail on a combined bond of $2.5 million, according to jail records.