Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Coroner IDs victim in Starbucks shooting; suspect was on probation

Starbucks Shooting on South Rainbow

Steve Marcus

Metro Police officers block Rainbow Boulevard 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 Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 | 10 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 »

Authorities on Tuesday identified a coffee shop customer killed Sunday in a shooting inside a Las Vegas Starbucks and said it appeared that he did not know the man accused of killing him.

Aleksandr Khutsishvili, 41, of Las Vegas, died Sunday of a gunshot to the chest, Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said.

No other details were provided about Khutsishvili, and efforts to reach people who knew him via telephone numbers in public records were unsuccessful.

The suspect, Pedro Jose Garcia, 34, is jailed pending a court appearance Wednesday on murder, robbery, burglary and weapon charges.

Detectives suspect the shooting was a random act by an enraged and agitated gunman, police homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said. The two men exchanged angry words before the shooting, but McGrath said detectives found no evidence they knew each other before the incident.

Garcia entered the store after his payment card was declined at the drive-thru window, police said. The chip in the card had been removed.

The clerk let Garcia leave without paying for a bottle of water he had already opened, police said.

A couple of minutes later, Garcia walked in the store trying to buy another item, but it wasn't clear if he had been able to, the clerk told police.

Garcia sat alone near the shop's entrance for about five minutes, police said.

A witness told detectives she heard Garcia argue with Khutsishvili, who was at the opposite corner. "She heard some people talking loudly but not quite yelling."

As of Tuesday night, it wasn't immediately clear what the argument was about, police said.

Garcia shot twice into the ceiling before shooting Khutsishvili, witnesses have said.

Garcia, an ex-felon, was arrested at the scene after police say he called 911, provided a fake suspect description and tried to leave the coffee shop with about a dozen other people.

He told a dispatcher that he'd shot a man who "appeared to be reaching for something," police said. He said his gun had jammed and the dispatcher said Garcia could be heard "manipulating" it.

On the recording, a man is heard moaning as well as what appeared to be Garcia saying: "Go for it, dog. I'm not gonna tell you again, go for it; play cowboy with me, dog."

A woman told police she walked in to find a bloody scene and Garcia on the phone while pointing the gun at Khutsishvili.

Garcia also told officers there was an explosive device in a backpack in the store, according to police.

A bomb squad investigated, but no device was found, police said. Garcia had gone through Khutsishvili's backpack before walking out.

A .22-caliber handgun was found in the coffee shop, police said.

Records show that Garcia served federal and Nevada state prison sentences for convictions on stolen vehicle, battery, attempted theft, drug and weapon charges.

Garcia was convicted and sentenced to 70 months in 2010 on three gun and drug charges from a 2007 case, records show.

He was released in November 2015 and was placed on three years of probation in which he wasn't allowed to own weapons and was instructed to complete mental health and drug abuse programs, records show. He was also ordered to forfeit a .380-caliber Cobra Patriot gun and all ammunition.

A deputy Clark County public defender is expected to be appointed to his case.

The coffee shop remained closed until Tuesday afternoon, when Metro officers showed up to offer support, the department said on social media, sharing photos of the officers and employees posing together.

Sun reporter Ricardo Torres-Cortez contributed to this report.

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