BRADENTON – A Cortez man will be arraigned on Friday, Sept. 13 in connection with a June 6 shooting during which a Cortez woman sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.
Kevin Armstrong, 48, was originally charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. His charge was amended on Aug. 22 to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) arrest affidavit, shortly after 10 p.m. on June 6, deputies responded to a 911 call reporting an active shooter.
Caitlin Lipke, 33, had been shot in the chest and transported to HCA Florida Blake Hospital. Interviewed there, Lipke told detectives that she was in a relationship with Armstrong and that the two had an argument earlier in the evening at Armstrong’s Sunny Shores residence.
Following the argument, Lipke went to a nearby restaurant and spoke to friends Dylan Taylor and Cole Banyas. The three went by golf cart to Armstrong’s residence so Lipke could retrieve her debit card and her dog, according to the arrest affidavit.
Lipke told investigators that when she and the two men arrived at Armstrong’s residence, he and three others were outside armed with shotguns and pistols.
Lipke told investigators that another argument ensued when she attempted to enter the residence to retrieve her belongings, and the shooting started. Taylor said Armstrong aimed a shotgun in Taylor’s direction and then in Lipke’s. As Taylor went to the golf cart to retrieve a pistol, he said he heard two shots.
Taylor said he fired approximately nine or 10 shots. He then said he saw Lipke with a gunshot wound to her chest. The three then fled and called 911 from the area of 119th Street West and 45th Avenue West.
“Due to the type and location of Caitlin’s wound, it is believed at this point that she may have inadvertently been struck by Dylan while he was trying to protect her from Kevin,” according to the MCSO affidavit.
Armstrong also called 911 and said that Lipke had “shot up the house.” He told deputies that he had been shot in the foot, but the MCSO report stated that his injury did not appear to be consistent with a gunshot wound.
Armstrong was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for battery against Lipke.
If convicted on the aggravated assault charge, he faces a prison term of up to five years.
He is represented by Bradenton attorney E. Jon Weiffenbach Jr.
