Prosecutors claim that a 42-year-old man shot another man in front of the victim’s fiancé and two small children after the family’s car horn beeped as he passed. The man was ordered to remain in custody.
This week, Paul Garcia was taken into custody and charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a handgun against an inhabited car and attempted first-degree murder.
The shooting took place in the 9700 block of South Commercial Avenue on June 21 at approximately 9 p.m. According to the prosecution, the victim, his fiancée, and their four-year-old children had just left Calumet Beach when they made a detour at a corner store for her to purchase an energy drink.
According to the prosecution, the woman had the key fob for their car in her pocket as she approached the store, and it automatically beeped the horn as Garcia passed by. According to a detention petition, Garcia became aggressive and demanded to know why the family was beeping at him.
Prosecutors claim that after the victim got out of the car to give an explanation, Garcia persisted in acting aggressively and the victim saw that Garcia was carrying a pistol. Inside the store, Garcia allegedly addressed the fiancée and said something along the lines of, “I don’t want to kill your husband, but if I have to, I beg you,” while claiming that their kids were in the car.
Garcia went outside, got in the victim’s face, pulled out a handgun, and pointed it at him as the victim started to contact the police, according to the prosecution. After Garcia left, other people came up to the father, and one of them tossed a bottle of beer at the family’s vehicle. Garcia allegedly turned around at that moment, started shooting, and hit the father twice in the head and back of the neck.
The prosecution stated in the detention file that the victim’s children yelled out, “Daddy’s dead,” “he fell down, and I saw blood.” In addition to two other automobiles on the block, police discovered gunshot holes in the family’s vehicle, including one directly beneath the back door where the kids were seated.
Prosecutors said that security cameras recorded almost the whole altercation. According to the petition, the father survived his injuries, did not sustain any fractures, and nothing critical was struck.
Judge James Costello held Garcia, who was previously convicted of brandishing a gun at someone.
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