A Port Charlotte neighborhood spent Friday evening under a shelter-in-place order after deputies say a man fired multiple guns outside his home on Starlite Lane. According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, 37-year-old Travis Allan Price fired into the ground and into the air, with witnesses reporting rounds passing above nearby houses. Deputies responded just after 5 p.m. on Oct. 9 and quickly set up a perimeter while telling residents to stay inside.
The standoff lasted hours. Deputies tried to negotiate by phone, but Price refused to surrender, repeatedly stepping into his screened-in entryway and retreating back inside. Eventually deputies used less-lethal bean bag rounds to subdue him, then took him into custody. He was transported to a hospital and medically cleared for mental health treatment.
Price now faces charges of possessing a firearm while subject to a domestic violence injunction, discharging a firearm in public, and improper exhibition of a firearm. Sheriff Bill Prummell noted how rare it is for the agency to ask residents to shelter in place, and acknowledged the fear and uncertainty it creates. It’s a case that touches on public safety, mental health response, and gun restrictions tied to domestic violence injunctions, all in one Port Charlotte neighborhood.
What do you think should happen when mental health calls and firearms overlap in our community? Let us know.
