Largo man believed gun was unloaded when he fatally shot woman, police say

LARGO — A Largo man arrested in the shooting death of an unidentified woman Saturday night told police he was intoxicated and believed the handgun was unloaded when he pulled the trigger.

Largo Police officers discovered the dead woman at a home in Ranchero Village mobile home park at 71000 Ulmerton Road after receiving a “frantic” 911 call at about 9:18 p.m. on Saturday.

Christopher Michael Zdrodowski, 42, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail just before 3 a.m. Sunday on a manslaughter charge. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.

In his arrest affidavit, Zdrodowski told investigators he was intoxicated and handling a semi-automatic weapon in his living room. He believed he unloaded the gun, the affidavit said. To demonstrate, he pointed the gun at the woman’s direction and pulled the trigger.

“As a result, a single round struck the victim in the chest, inflicting a mortal wound,” the affidavit said. Zdrodowski, who was booked in Pinellas County Jail under the name Michael Christopher Powers, was living at Ranchero Village mobile home park.

Police have not released information about the victim under their interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a constitutional amendment that’s meant to protect crime victims but deprives the public of information that had long been made available under Florida’s public records law.