Bradenton man shot deputy after trying to break into nursing home, sheriff says

Lina PortmanMay 25, 2024

0 2 minutes read

BRADENTON — A Bradenton man faces multiple attempted murder charges after he tried to break into a nursing home and shot at a Manatee County Sheriff's Office deputy, the agency said.

According to the sheriff's office, Sean Calcutti exhibited erratic behavior early Friday morning when he attempted to break into a Cortez Road nursing home and opened fire on two officers who responded to the scene, touching one of them in the arm.

“This is the man who tried to kill one of my deputies. This is the man who attempted to kill an innocent civilian inside this nursing home,” Sheriff Rick Wells said, holding up a poster of Calcutti's photo at a news conference Friday morning. “This is the man who will hopefully spend a lot of time not only at the Wells Motel, which is the Manatee County jail, but also at the Department of Corrections.”

Wells said Calcutti, 40, tried to drive a car through the front door of Aspire Nursing Home, in the 6300 block of Cortez Road, around 3:15 a.m. He then loaded a gun and shot an employee who confronted him, deputies say. .

Nursing home employees ran to the back and locked the doors, preventing Calcutti from entering the building, Wells said. Before deputies arrived, Calcutti also shot out at least one window at a nursing home, according to the sheriff's office.

None of the residents of the nursing home were injured, Wells said, but as of Friday morning, deputies said they did not know why Calcutti tried to break in.

“Why he chose to crash into the nursing home, we don’t know. We can only guess why he made the decision to shoot one of my deputies,” Wells said.

The employees were not injured, but they called 911 to report the shooting and deputies from the sheriff's office responded to the scene to begin searching for the shooter.

Shortly after officers arrived, they found Calcutti on the side of the building, but he refused to listen to their commands and fired at the deputies, according to the sheriff's office. The sheriff's office also returned fire, but deputies turned for medical help when Calcutti shot one of them in the arm.

After law enforcement established a perimeter in the area, a bloodhound from the sheriff's office helped locate Calcutti and he was arrested around 5:44 a.m., according to deputies.

The injured deputy was in “stable” condition and was expected to return home Friday evening after being hospitalized. Calcutti was not injured during his arrest, but he was also taken to a hospital, the sheriff's office said.

According to Wells, Calcutti has an “extensive” criminal history in Florida and New York.

“He is a violent offender. He’s violent,” Wells said. “He has a tendency to commit violent acts.”

Calcutti is charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, shooting a firearm into an occupied dwelling and armed burglary, Wells said .