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Inset: Angelo Garcia (Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Center). Background: The front door of the home where a 75-year-old woman celebrating her birthday was allegedly shot by Angelo Garcia (WPLG/YouTube).
In Miami, a Florida woman’s 75th birthday celebration took a terrifying turn when she, her son, and a 26-year-old guest were shot by an irate neighbor intent on confronting someone he believed had wronged him, according to police reports.
Angelo Garcia, 38, allegedly approached one of his victims, inquiring about the whereabouts of the individual who had offended him, before the shooting incident unfolded early Friday. This information comes from his arrest documentation, which was shared by local broadcaster WPLG.
According to Miami Police, Garcia, identified as the agitated neighbor, arrived at the party venue around 1 a.m. seeking to confront the person he held grievances against, as reported by WPLG. However, the individual he questioned informed him that the person he was looking for was in Cuba and not present at the gathering.
Surveillance footage allegedly captures Garcia interacting with the victims in the residence’s front yard where the party was taking place. The video reportedly shows him opening fire on them.
The birthday celebrant recounted to police that Garcia had been throwing rocks at vehicles before resorting to gunfire, as detailed by the local NBC station WTVJ, which references the arrest report.
Garcia allegedly fled after shooting the woman, her 53-year-old son and a 26-year-old man, all of whom survived, according to local Fox and ABC affiliate WSVN.
Garcia was later taken into custody by SWAT and local law enforcement, who busted down the door of a room at The Comfort Suites Miami-Kendall that he was holed up in early Saturday.
“It was almost 2 a.m.,” hotel patron Tito Polaco told WPLG about Garcia’s arrest. “I was in bed watching TV and then I heard those six or seven ‘BOOMs.’”
The 75-year-old and two others who were shot were transported to a local hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. The 26-year-old was in serious condition. The 53-year-old was in serious but stable condition, as was his mother.
“Nothing like this has ever happened here before. It’s a good area,” neighbor Alfredo Cruz told local CBS affiliate WFOR. “I have never seen anything like this.”
Another neighbor, Carla Perez Miranda, told WTVJ that she heard “six shots go off” and a woman screaming. “You killed them!” the woman reportedly said in Spanish, according to Miranda.
Garcia faces four counts of second-degree attempted murder or aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, displaying a firearm while committing a felony, and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a residential property, inmate records show. He was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County over the weekend.