Can you help identify who killed Palmetto man? Suspects captured on video surveillance
Police are pursuing leads as they work to identify suspects captured on video surveillance shooting a Palmetto man to death in his driveway early on Wednesday morning.
Palmetto police officers happened to be patrolling the area near the 1200 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Place at about 4 a.m. on Wednesday, when they heard the gunshots that killed Juan Francisco Sanchez. Officers found Sanchez, 31, bleeding in his driveway and despite lifesaving measured, he died there.
On Friday, Palmetto Chief of Police Scott Tyler confirmed that the shooting was captured by video surveillance.
“The video is pretty clear and does capture the suspects but it’s not clear enough to identify the suspects,” Tyler said. “But we know how it unfolded.”
Police have not released the video to the public.
One of Sanchez’s sisters, Laura, had already seen video surveillance footage captured from a neighbor’s home across the street from her brother’s home. The video showed three suspects coming from the side of the home, with the shooter then approaching and firing at her brother. At least two shots also struck the car belonging to another sister of the victim.
Laura Sanchez said that she didn’t know who would want to hurt her brother, but their family hoped whoever is responsible will be brought to justice.
Juan Sanchez has had several run-in’s with law enforcement for driving without a driver’s license and his criminal history includes one battery conviction stemming from a 2011 incident involving his ex-girlfriend.
Police are asking for anyone with any information about the shooting to call Detective Sgt Ryan LaRowe at 941-721-2000 ext. 6125 or 941-737-3027.
