Incidents reported at Sarasota Commons and on 29th Street
The Sarasota Police Department is investigating two shootings that occurred within a span of three days — on Jan. 19 and on Jan. 22.
The Jan. 19 incident resulted in the death of one person, Cynthia McLaughlin, the agency’s public information officer, wrote in a Jan. 20 update.
That shooting occurred about 11:30 a.m. within the Sarasota Commons shopping center, which stands in the 900 block of North Beneva Road in Sarasota. The plaza includes a post office, restaurants and a Trulieve medical marijuana dispensary, among other businesses.
The second case, McLaughlin reported on Jan. 22, “happened in the 1600 block of 29th Street” in Sarasota, shortly after 6:15 p.m. “One victim, a teenage boy, was airlifted to the [Johns Hopkins] All Children’s Hospital [in St. Petersburg] with non-life-threatening injuries.”
She added, “The victim is stable,” but details were limited. “The investigation is active and ongoing.”
The 1600 block of 29th Street is located just east of the intersection of 29th Street and North Orange Avenue, a map shows. The block ends at the Goodrich Avenue intersection. The map shows only residences on the block. Most appear to be single-family homes.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070, leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS, or going online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
In the aftermath of the Jan. 19 shooting, McLaughin wrote, “We’re looking for public assistance from anyone who was at the scene and witnessed the shooting.
“Detectives would like to speak with all persons at the scene,” she continued, “including the person wearing glasses and a tie-dye shirt who spoke with a uniformed police officer.”
Anyone with information about that incident case is being asked to contact Detective Llovio at 941-809-3009, McLaughlin added.
As of the morning of Jan. 25, 151comments had been posted on the Sarasota Police Department’s Facebook page in regard to the Jan. 19 shooting.
One woman wrote, “My mom was in the post office when she heard the shots, she looked out and the guy was already dead. She didn’t get to see anything but she confirmed it was 4 shots.”
A second woman responded, “[H]e was still alive when they left with him in the ambulance. And it was six shots.”
When a third woman disputed that the victim was alive when he was transported from the scene by an EMS unit, the second woman wrote, “He was alive when they left here with him in the ambulance, otherwise, there would be no need for the sirens and police escort. He was shot in the side of his neck and a couple shots to the side of his stomach. I was there. The people helping him before the police and ambulance showed up couldn’t find a pulse and performed CPR and got his pulse back.”
That second woman identified herself as an employee of one of the stores in the shopping center.
A member of the Police Department responded during that thread that one victim had been “transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for treatment.”
No other information about the incidents had been made public prior to the deadline for publication of this issue of The Sarasota News Leader.