Army Vet Murdered In Drive By After Returning Home From Afghanistan

A U.S. Army veteran was fatally shot in a Los Angeles drive-by on Sunday after an apparent welcome home celebration.

The soldier, who had recently been honorably discharged after serving in Afghanistan, was tragically killed in the early hours of Sunday morning while walking down the street after leaving the party in the Sylmar neighborhood of the city. According to the Associated Press, the police were unsure of motive in the shooting.

Francisco Garcia had left a party at his girlfriend’s house and was on a sidewalk in the San Fernando Valley around 2 a.m. Sunday when two cars pulled up. A man got out of one vehicle, smashed a beer bottle on the ground and yelled at Garcia before going back to the second car to grab a gun, police said.”

The man opened fire, and Garcia died at the scene. None of Garcia’s friends who were with him at the time were injured.

According to LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon, “The ironies are obvious. To survive as a soldier in an overseas conflict, only to be killed in your old neighborhood upon your return.”

He added that “It appears Francisco was the target of the attack. Apparently, a simmering dispute had boiled over during the night, and this suspect came looking for Francisco. Figuring out the dispute should lead us to the shooter.”

Det. Juan Santa indicated that “the dispute did not originate at the party but stemmed from a previous confrontation.”

No arrests have been made in the shooting. Detectives are interviewing witnesses and have collected shell casings from the scene, as well as working to locate the two vehicles involved, one of which was an SUV.

Garcia, who according to various news outlets had just returned home about two weeks ago from an 18-month Afghanistan deployment, reportedly was interesting in pursuing a career in law enforcement and had just been accepted into the California Highway Patrol Academy, CBS Los Angeles reported.

A friend described Garcia as “a very loving, caring person. He would always have a smile on his face. An all-around amazing individual.”

Although this presumably has no bearing on such a violent, horrific crime, there seems to be some conflicting information as to when Garcia left the Army and the nature of the party in question. “A detective involved in the investigation said Sunday afternoon that the department now sees no evidence that the party was held in Garcia’s honor, and that he returned from the Army in the summer,” NBC Los Angeles updated.

Watch local TV news reports about the Los Angeles drive-by shooting of Afghanistan War vet Francisco Garcia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=060l3IkUSWY

[Image courtesy of YouTube]