Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Police ID suspect in fatal shooting at Starbucks

Starbucks Shooting on South Rainbow

Steve Marcus

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue bomb squad members check on a backpack after a shooting at the Starbucks on South Rainbow Boulevard near Warm Springs Road Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016. One man was killed after the shooting in the Starbucks, police said.

Updated Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 | 5:25 p.m.

Pedro Jose Garcia

Pedro Jose Garcia

Starbucks Shooting on South Rainbow

A SWAT vehicle leaves the scene after a shooting at the Starbucks on South Rainbow Boulevard near Warm Springs Road Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016. One man was killed after the shooting in the Starbucks, police said. Launch slideshow »

The suspect in a fatal shooting Sunday at a southwest valley Starbucks has been identified as Pedro Jose Garcia, 34, according to Metro Police.

Garcia was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on counts of open murder, robbery, burglary and discharging a gun into an occupied building, according to jail logs.

The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. at the Starbucks at 7260 S. Rainbow Blvd., near Warm Springs Road. Garcia became agitated after his credit card was declined at the drive-thru and went inside, where he got into an argument with another customer, police said.

He shot the man in the chest and fired two rounds into the air, threatening to shoot other people, police said. There were about a dozen people in the store, but nobody else was injured before officers showed up and arrested Garcia, police said.

The victim, who police said was in his 40s, was taken to Spring Valley Hospital, where he died. His name will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

Customer Medin Gebrezgier told police and a television reporter that he saw the gunman fire twice into the ceiling before shooting a man in the chest.

"Terror, it was just terror. We were afraid," Gebrezgier told KVVU-TV. He described people crying and hitting the floor when shots were fired a little before 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

"We didn't know what was going to happen next. I had no idea what to do," he said. "I heard about this stuff on TV and movies, but it was all the way real."

More than a dozen people were in the store at the time of the shooting, Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said.

McGrath said Garcia tried to blend in and elude police at the scene by calling 911 and describing someone else as the shooter. He was arrested after witnesses identified him to officers arriving to what police initially thought was a hostage situation.

Parts of the shopping center were evacuated for about two hours while a bomb squad examined a backpack in the Starbucks that Garcia allegedly said contained a bomb.

Hadfield said there was no device, but police said a .22-caliber handgun was found in the coffee shop.

Garcia served time in federal and Nevada state prisons for convictions on stolen vehicle, battery, attempted theft, drug and weapon charges, according to court and prison records that showed he was released from federal custody last November.

Garcia is being held without bail. It wasn't immediately clear if Garcia had an attorney ahead of his initial court appearance, which is set for Tuesday morning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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