Westland, Michigan

From Livonia’s Observer & Eccentric of October 15, 2006

Dispute ends in death of Detroit man

A Detroit man's shooting death Wednesday snapped a 32-month streak of no killings in Westland -- traffic deaths aside, police said.

Eduardo Enrique Garcia, 31, was shot and killed early Wednesday when he confronted his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend inside a Westland apartment, police confirmed.

Garcia was shot in the upper torso and face during a dispute inside a first-floor apartment at Greenwood Villa, near Nankin Boulevard and Central City Parkway, police Lt. James Ridener said.

Garcia was declared dead at the scene.

The shooting happened around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Ridener said the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office decided that the shooter should be released as the investigation continues.

Under a new state law that took effect Oct. 1, the shooter was released because he wasn't the aggressor and, in fact, was retreating from Garcia, Ridener said.

"The prosecutor's office decided he should be released pending further investigation," Ridener said.

Garcia, a resident of southwest Detroit, went to his ex-girlfriend's apartment and found the new boyfriend there, Ridener said.

"He (Garcia) backed the other guy down a hallway," resulting in the shooter ultimately pulling out a .38-caliber revolver and firing it, Ridener said.

"It's not clear why Garcia went there, but it ended up in a confrontation," the lieutenant said.

The new boyfriend had been staying at the woman's apartment at least part time and had spent Tuesday night there, Ridener said.

Garcia's ex-girlfriend and a neighbor called 9-1-1 when the dispute erupted, and a Westland police dispatcher could hear the shots being fired in the background, Ridener said.

The shooter also called the police department after firing at Garcia, Ridener said. He had a license to carry the gun used in the killing, Ridener said.