Staff report
Late Sunday evening, October 21st, a Siesta Key deputy responded to the area of the Circle K located at 5041 Ocean Blvd. in regard to numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting a male subject firing a gun outside the store. One of the callers provided the shooter’s description as a white male wearing a blue shirt and white cowboy hat. Another caller stated the male was in front of the Solórzano’s Pizzeria and had taken off his shirt.
According to the report, the deputy located a male sitting on a bench in front of the pizzeria. He was wearing a white cowboy hat without a shirt and was sitting next to a female. The deputy was able to safely secure the male into handcuffs.
Upon contact with the defendant Michael Alan Anders, a 33 year old Bradenton resident, the report states, the deputy observed a strong odor of alcohol and located a black nylon empty handgun holster clipped to the defendant’s right front hip. At that point, the defendant uttered, “You ain’t never gonna find that gun. I hid it.”
The accompanying female said they were arguing in the Circle K when Anders became enraged because he was not able to find his truck keys. The report states she walked away then heard multiple gunshots and heard Anders scream her name. She was unable to see him so could not determine if the gunshots were aimed in her direction although, according to the report, he had not threatened or battered her.
The report states the clerk at the Circle K provided a sworn written statement in which she recalled the defendant entering the store and being highly agitated. She stated he was yelling and cursing. When she asked him to stop yelling, he lifted his shirt to display the handle of the gun in his waistband. She stated he then went outside and continued to yell and she once again attempted to calm him down telling him he was scaring the other people in the area. She stated he replied, “Go ahead and call the f—— cops. I’ll shoot them m—– f——.”
The surveillance video confirmed what was written in the sworn statement.
Deputies searched the surrounding area, the report continued, and located nine spent 9 MM shell casings in the middle of the intersection of Calle Minorga and Avenida Milano.
According to the report, Anders admitted he had hidden the gun in the toolbox in the bed of his truck, post Miranda Warning. Anders walked to the vehicle and gave consent for deputies to enter the toolbox and retrieve the weapon. Deputies recovered a Taurus Millennium 9 MM sitting in the left corner of the toolbox. The gun had an empty 12 round clip which was still in the gun. The slide was open in the “locked back” position which is consistent with a weapon that has been fired until it was out of ammo.
Deputies were not able to locate any bullet holes and no one in the area reported being injured by gunfire. The report noted that the area was heavily populated with people walking around the Village at the time gunshots were fired. Numerous witnesses stated they heard the yelling and gunshots but did not see the shooter.
Author: Siesta Sand