Woman charged with murder in New Year's Main Street shooting

UPDATE:  A 37-year-old Sarasota woman was charged with murder and other felonies in connection with a shooting early New Year’s Day on Main Street.

Latoya Johnson is being held on $1.1 million bond at the Sarasota County Jail.

Police have not released the name of the victim, who was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with bullet wounds but died later of his injuries.

Johnson was charged with murder, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She has a criminal history of at least seven felony convictions, including a  2008 conviction on a charge of carrying a concealed firearm, for which she served three years in a state prison.

Police said officers working the Pineapple Drop New Year’s Eve event were alerted to the 1:48 a.m. incident in the 1400 block of Main Street and found a wounded man. Police reported Johnson tried to hide a firearm as they approached her and several other people near the site of the shooting.

Video from inside a building indicated a member of a group appeared to get sick on a person who was sitting with Johnson. The group got up and approached the person who got sick and fight began. Witnesses told police Johnson was hit on the head in the melee and responded by firing a single shot, which struck the victim.

The incident took 37 seconds, police said. Johnson was taken into custody at the scene.

The case remains under investigation.  Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at  941-263-6070 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com

PREVIOUS REPORTING: A woman was in police custody early Saturday in connection with a shooting on Main Street that sent a man to the hospital with life-threatening wounds, Sarasota Police reported today.

According to police spokeswoman, police received reports of shots fired in the 1400 block of Main Street around 2 a.m. Officers arrived to find a man who had been shot. He was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with critical wounds, police said.

Police also said at least one woman was taken into custody. Police called the incident isolated, adding “the public is not in any danger.’’

The city’s annual Pineapple Drop New Years Eve street party was scheduled to conclude at 1:30 a.m. in the vicinity of the reported shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070.