Shooting and stabbing in Port Charlotte stem from dispute over no-parking stickers

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – A shooting and stabbing at a Wawa in Port Charlotte was traced to a “No Parking” sticker on a man’s car, a report shows.

According to court documents, officers said a maintenance worker from CRE Consultants was at a shopping center with an auto parts store and Wawa. Fox 4 is not releasing the worker's name because he is the victim of a crime.

While outside checking the irrigation system, the worker was approached by the manager of the auto parts department. The manager told the worker that a silver Lexus RX had been sitting in the parking lot for several days and that he wanted to get rid of it.

According to the report, the employee placed a “no parking” sticker on the car and began filling out paperwork.

Shortly afterward, the worker was approached by Anthony Gooden, who was coming from the Wawa. The report states that Gooden asked the worker to remove the sticker, but the worker said he was on private property and could not stay overnight.

According to the documents, Gooden began yelling at the worker, claiming the property was his property. The worker said he would call the police to settle the matter.

The report states that as the worker went to get his phone from his pocket, Gooden pulled a small folding knife from his pocket and stabbed the worker in the chest and jaw. As they struggled on the ground, the worker kicked Gooden away, according to the report.

The worker, the report says, tried to get a knife out of his pocket.

But then the employee heard his gun fall out instead.

When both stood up, Gooden grabbed the worker's gun and walked toward him, according to the report. The worker yelled “we're done, we're done” and got in his truck to leave, the report said.

Documents show the worker saw Gooden walking toward Wawa and said he turned around to put his truck between Gooden and the people standing around.

At that moment, the report said, Gooden fired through the worker's windshield. The worker then retrieved a rifle from his back seat and Gooden began firing through the rear window before firing again into the front window, the report said.

According to officials, the worker fired back eight times before Gooden ran away. They began shooting at each other again, and the report says the worker shot Gooden twice.

The report states that Gooden ran toward the woods and the worker tried to search for him because he believed Gooden “intended to kill him and was concerned that Anthony [Gooden] wanted to harm innocent passers-by,” the report says.

A witness reported hearing two volleys of gunfire between the two men and having to swerve into a van to avoid being hit.

When the gunfire stopped, witnesses told officers they went to help the worker.

Officials said they found Gooden in a wooded area with the help of a sniffer dog and flown both of them to the hospital.

The worker suffered stab wounds to the abdomen and jaw as well as a gunshot wound to the back.

Officials said Gooden was shot in the upper head, base of the neck, left shoulder and upper chest, and suffered additional injuries to his chest.

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office charged Gooden with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a weapon into a vehicle, theft and discharging a firearm in public.

Gooden appeared before a judge on Monday morning and will appear in court again on November 4 for arraignment.