No one injured in either case, agency says
The Sarasota Police Department is investigating two shootings that occurred 10 blocks apart on consecutive days this week in the Newtown community of north Sarasota, it announced in separate news releases.
No was injured in either case, the Police Department pointed out.
The first incident was reported about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19, in the 1700 block of 23rd Street in Sarasota, the agency said.
Based on preliminary information that the Police Department had gathered, the suspect — “an unknown man or woman” of unknown age — had been in hiding before appearing suddenly and attempting to rob a man who was just pulling out of his driveway, the agency explained in a news release.
“The suspect fired multiple shots at the vehicle, but the victim was not hurt,” the release pointed out.
“The suspect was last seen dressed in dark clothing,” running south from the area, the release added.
The 1700 block of 23rd Street is located between North Orange and North Osprey avenues, south of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, a map shows.
Anyone with any information about that case is asked to call Detective Kim Laster at 941-263-6827, or a person may remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-TIPS (8477), the release said.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry the morning of May 21, Genevieve Judge, supervisor of the Police Department’s Public Information Office, wrote in an email that she had checked with the lead detective in that case, who had told Judge that no update was available at that time.
The second incident was reported just after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, in the 1800 block of 33rd Street, that news release said.
In that situation, the release noted, “Detectives believe a known suspect, an adult woman, pulled into a driveway in the 1800 block of 33rd Street and fired multiple shots into an unoccupied vehicle parked outside a home.”
That release further explained that detectives believe that that shooting “happened after a dispute between the suspect and another woman.” The release added that detectives also believe that the incident was isolated, with no danger to the public. “The known suspect has been identified,” it pointed out.
A map shows that the 1800 block of 33rd Street is just east of North Osprey Avenue and south of the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex.
That case, too, remained under investigation early in the afternoon of May 21. Anyone with any information about it is being asked to call Detective Ross Revill with the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6092.
As in the previous release, the Police Department is advising anyone who wishes to provide a tip anonymously to submit it to Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-TIPS (8477).