Sheriff: Bradenton slaying may have been gang related

MANATEE — The shooting death of an 18-year-old Manatee man may have been related to gang activity, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

But that doesn’t mean the victim, Joseph X. Evans, was a member of a gang, said sheriff’s office spokesman Dave Bristow.

“We have an inkling it could be gang related. We are looking into that possibility,” Bristow said Sunday.

“That doesn’t mean the person who was shot was in a gang,” Bristow said. “What I am saying is that there are some aspects that could be gang-related.”

Evans was in his residence in the 6000 block of First Street East about 8 p.m. Saturday, when multiple suspects fired several shots from outside and then fled, according to an earlier news release.

Responding deputies found Evans lying in a hallway on his back.

He was transported to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he died, according to the sheriff’s office.

Two other people in the residence were not hurt.

Brisow said no arrests have been made, but detectives consider the slaying “a solvable case.”

The earlier news release stated that investigators did not believe the shooting was “a random incident.”

“The investigation is going pretty good,” Bristow said. “I am not going to give the motive right now. We have some ideas, but we’re not going to share them right now.”

Anyone with information on the shooting can call the sheriff’s office at (941) 747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-TIPS.