Sheriff’s Office files petition for Risk Protection Order, citing numerous, documented occasions when suspect had threatened or harmed family members
A 25-year-old Sarasota man has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and three other counts in the aftermath of a Feb. 3 incident at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store located at 4020 Central Sarasota Parkway in Sarasota, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has reported.
Kaleb Michael Caire, of 2250 Alice Road, also was charged with
Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon (Domestic), Obstructing Justice: Tamper with Evidence in a Criminal Proceeding, and Discharge Firearm/Weapon on Public/Residential Property.
He was being held in the county jail on total bond of $3,000 on the latter two charges; no bond was set for the aggravated assault and aggravated battery counts, the booking record showed on Feb. 4.
His arraignment has been set for March 6, the record noted.
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, members of the Sheriff’s Office’s Patrol Division, K-9 Unit, Tactical Unit, Aviation Unit, and the Narcotics Enforcement Team responded to reports of a shooting at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store, a Sheriff’s Office news release said.
“The victim called 911 to report that he was shot in the leg, and the suspect had fled the area,” the release continued. “The victim was transported to the hospital and treated for his injuries,” it added.
“Deputies searched the area and located the suspect not far from the incident location,” the release said.
After members of the SCSO Criminal Investigations Section and the Crime Scene Unit responded to the scene, they learned that the victim and the suspect were “known to each other,” the news release pointed out.
The Sarasota News Leader learned from a court document that the victim was Caire’s father, Michael Caire.
An earlier Sheriff’s Office news release, issued shortly after the incident, explained that the situation at the store posed “no threat to the public.”
“The investigation is ongoing,” the Feb. 4 update said.
The News Leader was unable to review a Probable Cause Affidavit for Caire prior to its deadline for publication of this issue.
However, the News Leader learned from the records maintained by Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing and her staff that, on Feb. 4, a detective with the Sheriff’s Office filed with the court a Petition for Risk Protection Order for Caire.
As the Florida Courts website explains, a 2018 state law — passed in the aftermath of the shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — allows for petitions to be filed for Risk Protection orders “to enhance public safety by restricting firearm and ammunition possession by a person who poses a danger to himself or herself or others.”
That Sheriff’s Office’s Feb. 4 petition says that Caire “poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or others by having a firearm or any ammunition in his custody or control or by purchasing, possessing or receiving a firearm or ammunition.”
It explained that Caire’s father called the Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 3 to say “that Kaleb shot him in the crowded [Lowe’s] parking lot … [and] then fled the scene with the firearm.”
When Patrol Division officers located Kaleb Caire, the petition continued, he was approximately 1 mile away, at the intersection of McIntosh Road and Central Sarasota Parkway. “He no longer possessed the firearm,” it noted.
When the detective who wrote the affidavit for the Risk Protection Order petition spoke with a Lowe’s employee who witnessed the incident, the man reported that he was walking to his vehicle in the parking lot “when he heard Kaleb yell loudly at Michael Caire, who was seated on the [tailgate] of his truck. Kaleb Carie called out to his father, “ ‘You can’t be doing this,’ ” the petition continued; then, Kaleb “drew a small handgun from his right waist area, pointed it at Michael and fired.”
Michael Caire told the detective that Kaleb had ridden with him to the store; Kaleb “was very agitated and argumentative on the car ride,” the petition added. Michael Caire reported that he and his son “continued to argue throughout [the store]. Kaleb threatened Michael multiple times,” it noted. For example, the petition pointed out, Kaleb said, “ ‘I’m gonna beat you to death’ and ‘I’m gonna beat your ass.’ ”
The detective noted in the petition that Kaleb was armed that entire time.
After the two men left the store, the petition continued, “Kaleb drew his firearm and pointed it at Michael Caire’s face. He then lowered the firearm and shot Michael Caire in his left thigh.”
When the detective spoke with Kaleb after reading Kaleb his Miranda rights, the petition added, Kaleb told the detective that his father would not drive him home from the store. “Kaleb stated, ‘[T]he only thing that keeps him (Michael) away is the imminent threat …’ ”
Moreover the petition noted, Kaleb told the detective that he tried to fire his gun a second time, but it jammed.
The petition also indicated that Kaleb had told officers that his father had hit him in the past and, on one occasion, had “put his hands around Kaleb’s throat.” Kaleb told a second detective that the latter incident took place several years ago, the petition noted.
When that second detective asked Kaleb whether he was trying to kill his father at Lowe’s, the petition said, Kaleb responded, “ ‘I wanted him away. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt me anymore, by any means.’ ”
Kaleb did show officers the storm drain into which he had thrown his weapon, the petition continued. It was close to the Kohl’s store near Lowe’s Home Improvement, the petition added. Crime Scene personnel were able to recover it.
“During the Post Miranda Interview,” the petition said, Kaleb admitted that he had pointed the same firearm at his father on Feb. 1 or Feb. 2, “during another argument at their residence. This incident was undocumented.”
On Aug. 22, 2025, the petition continued, members of the Patrol Division did respond to a call about a family disturbance at the Alice Road home of the Caires. “Michael and Kaleb both appeared to be agitated with each other,” based on the report, the petition said. Michael told the officers that Kaleb had “sprayed him in the face with a water bottle containing bleach, then started to swing his belt at Michael. No charges were filed,” the petition pointed out.
On June 30, 2025, the petition noted, Kaleb was put into protective custody through the provisions of the state’s Baker Act, “after he made threats to kill [his father].” Kaleb told officers, “ ‘[Y]ou guys should shoot me. I’m tired of this …’ ”
The petition included information about three other domestic disturbances at the Caires’ Alice Road home between Feb. 13, 2025 and June 20, 2025.
Earlier, on Nov. 3, 2024, Sarasota Police Department officers found Kaleb “yelling at pedestrians and speaking erratically, including referencing unknown individuals,” the petition added. Kaleb “was taken into protective custody” that day, as well, it noted.
The petition proceeded to provide details about more other incidents; the News Leader counted 28 of them, with most involving family members. The petition comprises eight pages.
A Feb. 17 hearing has been scheduled for 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Charles E. Williams to consider the petition, court records show.
Prior battery charges and driving infractions
A News Leader review of 12th Judicial Circuit Court cases involving Kaleb Caire found that he was charged with battery in May 2019 and in April 2021. Most of the other cases this reporter found were related to driving infractions, including three in which he was cited for careless driving. He also has been cited for speeding in a school zone, speeding in other areas, and failure to have proof of insurance. In June 2025, he was charged with having no vehicle registration and driving while his license was canceled, suspended or revoked.
The Probable Cause Affidavit in the May 2019 case explained that an uncle of Caire told the responding deputy that he and Caire “do not care for each other’s company.” The uncle added that, during a meal at the uncle’s residence, the two men ended up in a dispute during which Caire “became enraged and attacked him, punching him multiple times in the face.”
A second family member told the deputy that the two men “were arguing prior to the altercation,” which — she added — Kaleb Caire had started “after standing up and slamming his fist on the table.”
The State Attorney’s Office chose not to proceed with that case, indicating concerns about whether it could win, as Caire had “successfully completed the Pre-Trial Intervention Program …”
The Probable Cause Affidavit in the April 2021 battery case said that he had “admitted to taking acid” and “was highly intoxicated” when a deputy interviewed him. The victim reported that Caire came in the room where the victim was sleeping “and started screaming about religion and hitting him.”
The State Attorney’s Office for the 12th Judicial District also declined to pursue the charges in that case, court records note.