ENGLEWOOD, Fla — Another deputy-involved shooting in Charlotte County has left a 36-year-old man dead. Deputies shot and killed Shawn Austin Ravert outside a house on Lincoln Avenue Friday night. It’s the second deadly encounter involving law enforcement in the last three days.
The scene on Lincoln Avenue around 8 p.m. was packed with squad cars, deputies, and a mobile command center. Next-door neighbor Theresa Lapointe says she saw Ravert pacing outside her house waving a machete and feared he might hurt someone, so she called 911 for help.
Watch Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski's report here:
Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell says deputies arrived and spotted Ravert armed with the machete. “Despite multiple commands to put the weapon down, the man continued to move toward the deputies in an aggressive manner, ignoring orders to stop, stating, ‘Shoot me,’” Prummell said. “The two deputies fired their agency-issued firearms and struck him multiple times.”
Prummell confirmed Ravert died at the scene. Neighbors say Ravert had been acting strangely in the days leading up to the shooting. Lapointe says Ravert admitted to using meth again and described him pacing in his yard, climbing trees, and hallucinating.
Across the street, neighbor Darryl McKee says he noticed something was off with Ravert just hours before the shooting.
“He came up and parked his bike behind those trees and was acting weird,” McKee said. “He sat there for a few minutes. Then went straight across to that house, and I’m like, what’s he doing there because that’s not his house. He’s looking weirded out and weirded out. Finally, he walks to his house, takes his bicycle, and throws it over into their trees.”
Ravert’s troubles go back years. Records show he was convicted in 2010 for cutting a man with a sword during a fight and had several drug arrests in Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Neighbor Shirlee Stadler says Ravert moved into the neighborhood about a year ago and initially seemed normal, leaving her shocked by the events.
“I was just physically sick because, like I said, he was just such a nice young man, I thought,” Stadler said. “And the neighbors felt the same way. I’ve talked with several of them, and they liked Shawn too.”
After a month marked by loss—including the death of Charlotte County Deputy Sgt. Elio Dias—neighbors say they are longing for peace. “It’s frightening,” Stadler said. “You just wonder, when is this going to stop?”
