Deputies shoot and wound armed man

A pair of Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies shot and critically wounded a man late Thursday when he disregarded orders to drop a gun and instead pointed the weapon their way.

Robert James Boast, 45, was listed in critical condition in an area hospital, according to a news from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Boast was charged in connection with his Manatee County warrant for Violation of Pretrial Release: Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. He had been arrested in September 2025 on the battery charge in connection with an attack with a vehicle on a man in a Manatee County shopping plaza.

The Sheriff’s Office provided this account of the incident:

Around 6:25 p.m. on Thursday, deputies were called to a home in the 2100 block of 59th Street, just south of University Parkway and just east of U.S. 301, on a disturbance report. There, they found a man sitting behind the home. When contacted by the four deputies who responded, the man pulled a pistol from his waistband.

The deputies ordered the man to drop the weapon. When he pointed it in their direction, two deputies fired.

A search warrant request is pending for the home as part of the continuing investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said.