Charles Van Di Veir Anderson II, a 79-year-old man, was killed in Port Charlotte, Florida, after a dispute that investigators said began inside the circle of people connected to his home. Anderson was a Navy veteran who had built a life after service as a gas station owner and mechanic, and his son, Charles Anderson III, later described the grief of having to travel from Texas to clean out his father's home and prepare for a funeral he never expected to plan.
Authorities identified the
suspected shooter as 32-year-old Matthew Ryan Cross. According to reports based on the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Cross was known to Anderson through someone who had been staying at or connected to Anderson's home. At some point, Anderson told Cross he was no longer welcome there. Investigators later said they believed Cross had broken into Anderson's home days before the killing, on March 27, and stolen several items, including a gun. That same night, shots were reportedly fired at Anderson's home, and bullet holes were still visible in the garage door afterward.
The fatal encounter unfolded when Cross allegedly went to Anderson's front door and shot him in the head. Deputies were called to the Malone Avenue area around midday after a report that someone had been shot. Two people were with Anderson when the shooting happened, and 911 calls later released captured them pleading for help and identifying Cross as the shooter. Anderson died from his injuries, and the killing triggered an urgent manhunt through Port Charlotte.
About an hour after the initial shooting call, community policing deputies on bicycle patrol near Kenilworth Boulevard and Yorkshire Street were approached by people from a homeless camp who said Cross was in nearby woods and had pointed a gun at them. Deputies entered the wooded area, and Sheriff Bill Prummell said Cross fired at them. Deputies returned fire, but Cross fled deeper into the area as law enforcement expanded the search. Schools nearby were placed on lockdown, and residents were told to stay inside while deputies and North Port police searched for the armed suspect.
The manhunt ended near Hillsborough Boulevard. Authorities said Cross emerged from the woods while holding a gun and pointing it at his own head as officers ordered him to drop it. He did not comply. Two Charlotte County deputies and five North Port police officers fired their weapons, killing Cross at the scene. Sheriff Prummell later said the firearm Cross had was believed to be the same gun stolen from Anderson's home days earlier, and that when Cross came out of the woods, the gun was empty. The sheriff also said Cross had made threats suggesting “suicide by cop.”
No surviving suspect was arrested because Cross was killed during the confrontation with law enforcement. Investigators said they believed Cross acted alone in the burglary connected to Anderson's home. Reports also noted that Cross had a criminal history, including a 2023 case in which he was charged with burglary and grand theft of a firearm. Court records in that earlier matter reportedly showed he had been found incompetent to proceed and had a history involving traumatic brain injury and mental health symptoms. The officer-involved shooting portion of the case was expected to be reviewed by the State Attorney's Office.
