15-Year-Old Faces Felony Charges In Sarasota County Fair Shooting

Updated Monday 10:45 a.m.

SARASOTA, FL — A 15-year-old faces three felony charges after Saturday night’s shooting at the Sarasota County Fair, Sarasota police said in a news release.

Ansel L. Acosta of Sarasota has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, culpable negligence and brandishing a firearm in public. He was arrested early Monday morning at his home, police said.

Just after 10 p.m. Saturday, Acosta shot an 18-year-old man at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, which are located at 3000 Ringling Blvd. in Sarasota, police said.

The teenage victim was brought to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he is in stable condition and expected to survive after surgery.

Police said the shooter and the victim knew each other, and the shooting wasn’t a random incident. The shooting escalated from a verbal argument between two groups at the county fair.

Additional shots were fired in the parking lot after the 18-year-old was shot in the fairgrounds, but police said this was unrelated. No one was injured and detectives believe someone fired a gun into the air.

The 2021 Sarasota County Fair kicked off Friday evening and runs through March 28.

The fair opened at its normal time Sunday. In a statement on its Facebook page, the Sarasota County Fairgrounds said "enhanced security protocols and staffing" will be implemented at the event.

Hillary Palan told Patch that she was separated from family friends and her 14-year-old daughter, who were at the restroom, when she first heard the gun shots Saturday night.

She hid with her six-year-old son and several strangers — a father and his two daughters — behind a food truck near gate two at the front of the fairgrounds and “watched swarms of police officers go running,” she said.

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When the father brought his youngest daughter to the bathroom, Palan remained behind the food truck with her son and the man’s older daughter.

“Then there (were) what sounded like more shots, so we ran a little further and hid the kids behind/underneath a fence panel and some screening next to (another) food truck until her dad came back,” Palan said.

Once they exited the fairground gates, she was reunited with her teenage daughter.

Her children were “quite upset,” Palan said. “I highly doubt they’ll return to any fair anytime soon. I was born and raised here. This is the first time I’ve encountered anything like this here.”

Angelina Sellitto said she heard shots and saw two police officers covered in blood.

“People started running and screaming shooter over and over again and we all started grabbing random strangers and pulling them with us and pushing them toward the exit,” she told Patch.

Michael Roi, who said he is a vendor at the fair, said there was “a break down in security” with little information about the shooting shared with vendors.

“We all safe but why was guns allowed in the fair… and why for 30 minutes (was our) building still open and the gunmen could have come in shooting. Our safety was on (the) line,” he said.

This investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070.