Inset: Jorge Garcia appearing in court (KLAS). Background: Authorities at the Las Vegas apartment where Garcia allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend (KSNV).
A 33-year-old man in Nevada is accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend inside her apartment, after allegedly threatening her with a firearm during a confrontation that prompted a frantic 911 call in which the dispatcher overheard some of the victim's final moments.
Jorge Garcia was taken into custody earlier this week and charged with one count of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the slaying of a woman in her mid-30s, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, officers at 3:28 p.m. on Tuesday responded to a call about a possible domestic disturbance at a residence located in the 8900 block of South Durango Drive. Police said a woman called 911 and told the emergency dispatcher that her ex-boyfriend was at her apartment picking up property and threatening her with a gun. The call disconnected moments later.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders made entry into the apartment and located an unresponsive woman suffering from multiple apparent gunshot wounds. Medical personnel responded and pronounced her dead at the scene. Police said the suspect had fled prior to their arrival.
The department's homicide section responded and, through the course of the investigation, identified Garcia as the suspect. He was later located and taken into custody without incident before being transported to the Clark County Detention Center and booked on the murder charge.
The victim and Garcia previously lived together, Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS reported. Just prior to the shooting, Garcia had returned to the apartment to collect his belongings when the situation turned into a deadly confrontation.
Investigators said a 911 operator stayed on the line with the victim as she spoke to Garcia. The conversation between the former couple soon escalated into an argument and the line disconnected.
When first responders knocked on the apartment door, they received no answer. One of the officers then looked through a window and made a grisly discovery.
"Officers looked inside the window and seen a female lying unresponsive," LVMPD Lt. Robert Price said in a news briefing, according to local NBC affiliate KSNV. "Those officers immediately made entry into that apartment and observed a female lying on the ground suffering from multiple gunshot wounds."
Price reasserted investigators' belief that Garcia gunned down his ex-girlfriend while "collecting his things" from the apartment they once shared.
"At some point in time, the boyfriend pulled out a firearm, began threatening the female, and then shot her," he said.
Garcia later made his initial court appearance and remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center without bond.
The Clark County Coroner's Office is the agency tasked with releasing the victim's identity, which will happen after next of kin are notified, as well as the official cause and manner of her death.
It was not immediately clear when Garcia was scheduled to make his next court appearance.