Inset: Carlos Garcia-Romero (LMPD). Background: The area in Louisville where Garcia-Romero allegedly shot his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend (WLKY).
A 28-year-old man in Kentucky has been apprehended for allegedly shooting his girlfriend’s ex-husband after the two unexpectedly encountered each other at a restaurant in Louisville.
Carlos Garcia-Romero was detained over the weekend and faces multiple felony charges, including two counts of second-degree assault and one count of first-degree wanton endangerment, as per records evaluated by Law&Crime.
Garcia-Romero is also charged with discharging a firearm or other device across a public road, unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon, and first-degree fleeing or evading police.
According to a news release from the Louisville Metro Police Department, officers responded Sunday evening to a shooting report at a restaurant in the 5200 block of New Cut Road near Iroquois Park. Upon arrival, first responders found an adult male victim with a gunshot wound to his left leg.
Emergency medical personnel transported the victim to the University of Louisville Hospital for treatment.
At the hospital, the victim informed police he knew the shooter, identifying him as “Carlos Garcia” and stating he was his ex-wife’s boyfriend, as reported by Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS reported. Investigators soon determined the suspect to be Garcia-Romero.
The victim explained that he encountered Garcia-Romero after “coincidentally running into him” at a restaurant, as reported by local NBC affiliate WAVE reported. The shooting reportedly ensued shortly after the encounter between the two men.
Police were reportedly able to confirm that Garcia-Romero’s girlfriend and the victim share a child together.
In an interview with investigators, Garcia-Romero allegedly conceded that he saw the victim and pointed a gun at him to scare him, but said he never intended to shoot him, WHAS reported.
The defendant reportedly went on to claim that the gun “accidentally went off” while he was pointing it at the victim, WHAS reported.
After the shooting, Garcia-Romero reportedly told police that he tossed the gun into a dumpster at a nearby gas station.
Garcia-Romero is currently being held by the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections in lieu of $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 12 for his arraignment.
Authorities said the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
