A fence installation took a dangerous turn on Wednesday afternoon when a Punta Gorda man allegedly drew a loaded gun on workers while shouting racial slurs and death threats.
Just after 2:30 p.m. on June 17, 2026, Charlotte County deputies rushed to Sabalwood Drive following multiple emergency calls reporting an armed standoff between two men. When deputies arrived, they found 68-year-old Shelton H. Roy, Jr. trying to walk away from the scene. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Roy ignored orders to stop, forcing deputies to take him to the ground and handcuff him to secure the area.
Investigators quickly pieced together what happened before the sirens blared. Two contractors were unloading materials on a property next to Roy’s house to install a new fence. Roy allegedly approached them, screaming derogatory, racist remarks and threatening to kill them if they kept working. He then sat on the tailgate of an abandoned truck just ten feet away, continuing the verbal attack.
The situation escalated when Roy pulled out a silver revolver and aimed it at the workers. The two men dove behind their utility truck for cover. While one worker dialed 911, the other grabbed his own firearm from the vehicle to protect himself. Hearing sirens in the distance, Roy retreated back to his yard to hide his weapon before police pulled up.
Independent witnesses backed up the workers’ accounts, and one bystander even snapped a photo of Roy holding the gun. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives found the loaded silver revolver sitting on the backseat of a vehicle parked in Roy’s front yard. Furthermore, investigators noted that Roy repeated the racial slurs during his own recorded call to 911.
Roy is now being held at the Charlotte County Jail without bond. He faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of resisting an officer without violence. Because of the racial slurs used throughout the incident, prosecutors added a hate crime enhancement to his charges.
Following the arrest, Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell released a statement addressing the incident:
“With the 250th anniversary of our beautiful nation approaching, there is much to celebrate and a few regrets. Perhaps the biggest regret we have is the matter of racism. This issue should be long gone by now, but it occasionally still rears its ugly head. This individual chose to embrace that vile part of our history. There is no place for it in our country, and especially not in Charlotte County. It is an evil for which I have no tolerance.”
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