Gulf Gate Shooting Leads To Arrest: Sarasota County Sheriff

Updated: 10:37 a.m., Saturday

SARASOTA, FL — A 39-year-old Sarasota man faces charges after a shooting outside businesses in the Gulf Gate neighborhood early Monday morning, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

Kevin Frances was charged with shooting into or throwing deadly missiles into a public or private building and discharging firearm on public property when knowingly discharged a firearm in a public place, arrest reports show.

Deputies initially responded to a shooting at Pour Decisions Saloon, 6587 Gateway Ave., just after 4 a.m., according to the affidavit.

Before the shooting, a fight broke out outside the bar between several people after one person was kicked out for being drunk and disorderly, the sheriff’s office report said.

During the fight, Martin went to a Jeep in the parking lot to get a gun and shot one round. The bullet hit a nearby business, shattering its glass front door, as well as LED lighting inside, according to the affidavit. The bullet went through the ceiling and into the business' attic.

The name and address of the business hit by the bullet was redacted from the affidavit under Marsy’s Law, Kaitlyn Perez, community affairs director for the sheriff’s office, told Patch.

After the shooting, Martin drove away from the area in the Jeep. Witnesses called 911 and gave a description of Martin and his vehicle to deputies, who pulled him over minutes later at Stickney Point Road and Elmwood Avenue.

As he got out of the Jeep during the traffic stop, a firearm magazine fell from his lap to the ground, the affidavit said. Martin told deputies that the gun was in his glove compartment.

Joey Bennett, owner of Pour Decisions, told Patch that none of the people involved in the incident had been inside the bar that night and that there was no fight inside or in front of his business.

He also said that no one had been kicked out of the bar that night; rather, someone was turned away at the door because he had no ID and “became irate,” the owner said.

There are a lot of rumors being spread about what took place, Bennett added. “None of the interior of the bar was involved, any of that. Mostly, it was just the parking lot.”

He stressed that Pour Decisions wasn’t involved in the shooting, and that a business two storefronts down was hit by the bullet. His bar manager was the person who called 911, he said.

A witness told deputies that he saw the shooting and that after it happened, Martin ran over to a man “lying on the ground and started shaking them to see if they were ok,” according to SCSO records. “After seeing the male subject unresponsive," he drove away in the Jeep.

No one was shot in the incident, but “there was another involved person who sustained injuries during the dispute,” Kaitlyn Perez, community affairs director for the sheriff’s office, told Patch.

The investigation is ongoing, and more charges could be filed, she said.