A Friday-night shooting on a residential street in Ellenton, in Manatee County, Florida, has left a 23-year-old man dead and a 20-year-old man in custody facing a manslaughter charge, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies were called to the 900 block of Central Avenue at about 8:34 p.m. on Friday, November 13, after reports of a shooting, and found Cole Decicco, 23, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.
Source: Manatee County Sheriff's Office via AmeriLedger
On Saturday morning, November 14, the sheriff's office announced an arrest. Andres Geraldo Ocampo, 20, was arrested after investigators said they had determined there was probable cause to charge him in connection with the fatal shooting. He is charged with culpable negligence resulting in manslaughter with a firearm. The charge is an allegation: it has not been proven in court, and Ocampo is presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted.
What deputies found on Central Avenue
According to the sheriff's office, everyone involved in the incident remained at the scene when deputies arrived, and no other injuries were reported. Detectives spent Friday night collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses on the street, which is a residential block of single-storey homes in Ellenton, an unincorporated community in northern Manatee County between Palmetto and the Tampa Bay corridor.
The sheriff's office said detectives also obtained a search warrant to gather more evidence, and that the investigation remains active. Officials have not disclosed the relationship between Ocampo and Decicco, what happened in the moments before the shooting, or the circumstances in which the firearm was discharged.
Known: the shooting was reported at about 8:34 p.m. on November 13 in the 900 block of Central Avenue, Ellenton; Cole Decicco, 23, died at the scene; all parties remained at the scene and no one else was injured; Andres Ocampo, 20, was arrested Saturday morning. Not yet released: the relationship between the two men, what led to the gunfire, and Ocampo's booking and first court appearance details.
What the charge means
Florida law treats a killing caused by culpable negligence — conduct showing a reckless disregard for human life — as manslaughter, a framework set out in Chapter 782 of the Florida Statutes. As reported by the sheriff's office and local coverage, the charge against Ocampo alleges serious negligence resulting in death; by itself, it does not allege that the shooting was intentional. That distinction will matter as prosecutors review the evidence detectives are still collecting, including whatever is recovered under the search warrant.
A quiet street, and a county that knows gun cases well
Ellenton sits along the US-41 and Interstate 75 corridor in Manatee County, south of Tampa, and is better known for its outlet mall, the Manatee River and historic Gamble Plantation than for violent crime headlines. Friday night's shooting brought patrol cars and detectives to a neighbourhood street for hours, and the sheriff's office investigation is the second major case file its detectives have opened in the county this month involving a young man dead from a gunshot wound and another young man charged.
What happens next
The sheriff's office says the investigation is still ongoing, and detectives are continuing to gather evidence under the search warrant. Ocampo's case will move through the Manatee County court system, where a first appearance and any bond decision are expected to be the next public steps; those details had not been released by the sheriff's office as of Saturday afternoon. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.