FL Man Who Fatally Shot Neighbor He Mistook For Bear Given $200K Bond

A Southwest FL man was arrested months after fatally shooting his neighbor, who he mistook for a bear in the middle of the night.

By Tiffany Razzano, Patch Staff

Aug 7, 2026 3:26 PM EDT

NAPLES, FL — Months after fatally shooting his neighbor, claiming to mistake the victim for a bear, a Naples man was arrested and charged with manslaughter with a firearm, according to multiple reports.

Ariel Gonzalez Rodriguez, 24, was taken into custody on July 31 in connection with the March 26 killing of his neighbor, Jason Sheffield, Collier County court records show.

During a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, a judge set his bond at $200,000, the Naples Daily News reported.

Florida is home to about 4,050 black bears, from the Panhandle to the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida, according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Gonzalez Rodriguez's wife, Katherin Hidalgo, told investigators that she heard a noise outside their home around midnight and worried that a wild animal was trying to get into her chicken coop, according to his July 28 arrest affidavit.

He went outside with a small caliber rifle, which he loaded with two rounds, according to the affidavit, Detective Brian Tarazona wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Gonzalez Rodriguez told investigators that he heard something moving near where his chicken coop was located and continued to hear noises moving toward Sheffield's property.

He couldn't see what was making the noise because it was dark outside, so he "shot a single round to the ground, hoping the loud gunshot noise would scare away whatever was moving," the affidavit said.

After the shooting, the noise began moving directly toward Gonzalez Rodriguez. Fearing an attack was imminent, he shot off a round in the direction of the noise and his neighbor's property, according to the affidavit. The noise stopped after this.

Afraid that he might have wounded a bear, angering it, and worried about getting attacked if he went back outside, he told investigators he decided to check the yard the next morning.

Gonzalez Rodriguez woke up around 8 a.m. and went outside to check his property. As he walked closer to Sheffield's home, he found his neighbor lying face down on the ground, not moving, with blood on his body, according to the affidavit.

He told investigators he immediately called 911 and had his wife retrieve his rifle from the home to bring outside for deputies, remaining on the phone with the dispatch center until the deputies arrived.

Gonzalez Rodriguez "was frantic as he informed the dispatcher that he shot off a gun … at a noise he believed to be a bear, but now believed he accidentally shot his neighbor," Tarazona said in the affidavit.

On March 29, the District 20 Medical Examiner's Office confirmed a gunshot wound to the middle of Sheffield's back and determined his manner of death was a homicide, investigators said.

"Every person has a duty to act reasonable toward others. If there is a violation of that duty, without any conscious intention to harm, that violation is negligence," Tarazona wrote in the affidavit. "Culpable negligence is more than a failure to use ordinary care toward others. For negligence to be culpable, it must be gross and flagrant. Culpable negligence is a course of conduct showing reckless disregard for human life or a grossly careless disregard for the safety and welfare of the public."

The detective added, "By intentionally firing a lethal weapon in a residential area and in the direction of a known residence, at an unidentified target during the nighttime hours, or without confirming the target's identity or ensuring the area beyond the target was clear, Ariel Gonzalez Rodriguez engaged in conduct that grossly deviated from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person and demonstrated a reckless disregard for the safety of others."