Husband sought after fatally shooting wife, another man at Vero Beach library, cops say

Police are searching for a man who they believe shot and killed his apparently estranged wife and a man who may have been her new romantic interest outside a Vero Beach library.

The shooting happened around 7 a.m. Tuesday outside the Indian River County Main Library on 21st Street.

At a news conference Wednesday, Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey identified the victims as 49-year-old Stacie Mason and Danny Ooley.

Both were Indian River Public Works employees, with Ooley the assistant director and Mason a traffic analyst technician, county officials said.

Currey said surveillance video showed a suspect approaching the victims in a parking lot and shooting them with a long gun, similar to an AR-15.

The suspect is believed to be Mason’s husband, 64-year-old Jesse Scott Ellis, Currey said.

Ellis and Mason had been married for around 13 years but in the midst of possibly separating or divorcing and selling their home, and Mason may have been romantically involved with Ooley, Currey said.

“This was a situation of a crime of passion, two individuals that were apparently seeing each other for a period of time and one husband being upset about it and potentially committing the crime,” Currey said.

The suspect left a weapon behind and Ellis’ truck was later found at South Beach Park, Currey said.

Vero Beach Police

Vero Beach Police

Witnesses reported seeing a man, believed to be Ellis, going into the ocean near Riomar Country Club and swimming about 900 yards off shore, Currey said.

A fire department boat responded and spoke to him but he gave them a false name and they determined he was in a “safe scenario,” Currey said.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Ellis’ home and recovered multiple firearms and phones, and are still searching for him, Currey said.

“He’s still at large, he’s still a person of interest,” Currey said. “Could he have drowned? Potentially yes. Could he have come back out of the water? Potentially yes.”