A retired NYPD detective has been charged with the murder of a Black man and father of two, who was shot to death on the George Washington Bridge Tuesday night.
According to Fox 5, 62-year-old Victor Romero is accused of killing 46-year-old Con Edison employee Koran Irvine after a road rage incident. Romero was reportedly arrested Wednesday at his home in Haverstraw, New York, and is expected to make his first court appearance before a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court.
NBC 4 New York reported that Irvine was found by authorities inside a vehicle on the upper level of the George Washington Bridge, on the westbound side of traffic. Investigators said a gunman fired a shot through a window of his car, with a single shot striking him in the shoulder and exiting his neck.
Here’s how the event played out, via NBC 4:
According to sources, the victim was captured on video nearly crashing his blue Volkswagen Golf into another driver on an entrance ramp to the GWB.
Shortly after, Irvine’s back passenger window was shot out with what law enforcement sources believe was a lone gunshot.
The bullet appeared to strike the driver’s seat headrest before entering the driver’s body, law enforcement sources told News 4. The victim’s car later struck a median, bringing it to a full stop.
The suspect was seen driving on.
The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. and shut the bridge down for hours, before all lanes reopened around 1 a.m.
“He was a very nice man,” Hope Dorceoly, a neighbor of Irvine’s, told NBC. “We moved into the neighborhood; I remember when we first came, he would help us out. They had chickens in the back. He brought us chicken eggs to welcome us in. He was just a really nice guy; we’re in shock, and we are devastated for the family.”
A GoFundMe page launched to support his wife and two children describes the victim as “a man full of life, love, and dedication to the people who meant the most to him. “
For whatever reason, media outlets have been focused on a past story in which Romero, who has been retired from the force for 25 years, got shot while trying to stop a robbery at his family’s business back in 2000.
Yeah — we not doing that here.
An ex-cop is accused of killing a Black man as an emotional reaction to almost getting into an accident with him. That’s it. That’s the story.
Police said the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
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