East Bradenton shooting victim was neighborhood 'ice cream man'

EAST BRADENTON -- In the small neighborhood of Manatee Trailer Park on Bradenton's east side, a man known simply as "the ice cream man" was shot to death where he sold his treats.

The shooting, which followed an argument, occurred at 5:52 p.m. Saturday near the corner of 23rd Street East and Sixth Avenue Drive East, according to neighbors.

The assailant, who fled in a vehicle, was still at large Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

"He sold ice cream and lollipops from a cart," Esbeyda Agustin, who lives across the street from where shooting took place with her children and mother, said of the victim.

Authorities were still trying to determine the victim's identity on Sunday, according to Bradenton Police Lt. James Racky. The Manatee County homicide task force is trying to work with witnesses, he added.

"What we do know is that both the victim were both Hispanic men and that a small group of people apparently saw the shooting," Racky said.

The victim underwent surgery at Blake Medical Center but died at 11:09 p.m., Racky added.

"We have no idea exactly what happened," Racky said. "There was some kind of disagreement between the two men. No one can tell us their real names.

"We know there was a group of people there," Racky added. "The victim walked up to the suspect and started arguing with him. The suspect pulled out a gun and shot the victim at least three times. There were witnesses. We are working with them now."

Witnesses did tell police that the shooter fled in a gold or silver pickup truck, Racky said.

Racky said witnesses are hesitant to talk to authorities.

"We feel they are withholding," Racky said. "They are a little scared. But we are working with them."

"He sold ice cream," Agustin said of the victim. "He was just trying to make some money."

Agustin is especially upset by the shooting because the neighborhood is filled with children.

"There are a lot of kids here," Agustin said. "There are little kids who witnessed the shooting. They were running toward the car that fled. They were trying to help but are little kids. What can they do?"

Agustin said she didn't witness the shooting, and doesn't know the man's name. She said she thought he was from Oneco.

"I wasn't here," Augustin said. "But my brother, his wife, and my sister were out here, and he mentioned that it was an argument that started. They were going to fight physically. And then, someone got in the middle because they didn't want them to fight. The one guy who had the gun went to get it in the truck. There was a guy in the middle. He fired across the guy in the middle, and they just left. It's horrible they don't want to talk and help that poor guy."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 1:08 PM with the headline "East Bradenton shooting victim was neighborhood 'ice cream man' ."