Sarasota Police detectives are continuing their investigation into a shooting that happened Friday, July 9, 2021, just before midnight, at 1800 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Sarasota.

Sarasota Police officers responded to a condo building for a report of shots fired.  Officers heard rapid fire coming from the condo building and entered the building to look for the shooter.  Callers told dispatch that a recently fired maintenance man, age 58, was shooting the gun.  Witnesses told officers he was disgruntled over losing his job recently.

The preliminary investigation has shown the former employee went to a condo of a man and woman in the same building in an attempt to hurt the man.  The man and woman fled from the condo and the former employee fired multiple shots at them before going to a parking garage and firing multiple rounds into two unoccupied vehicles.  The man and woman were able to escape without serious injury.

The former employee barricaded himself inside a condo until officers found him just after 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 10, 2021.  He was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Benjamin Franklin Drive was closed in both directions from South Lido Park to Taft Drive from approximately 12:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 10, 2021.  Sarasota Police officers and criminalistics technicians remained at the condo building until about 12:30 p.m. to process the scene.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com

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