Family of GWB shooting victim blasts "miscarriage of justice" after alleged gunman faces manslaughter charge, granted bail

Victor Romero, a retired NYPD detective accused in a deadly shooting on the George Washington Bridge, appeared in court Thursday to face a manslaughter charge. A judge set $1 million bail. 

While Romero, 62, was arraigned on a first-degree manslaughter charge Thursday. When he was arrested Wednesday, police charged him with murder. The DA's office downgraded the charged to manslaughter, police said. 

Police believe Romero shot and killed Rockland County resident Koran Irvine, 46, during an apparent road rage incident. 

Romero did not enter a plea in court, nor did he speak. He wore a white dress shirt and khakis. Irvine's family watched him from feet away in the courtroom. 

The Manhattan district attorney will present the case to a grand jury on Oct. 26. If the grand jury indicts Romero, at that time he will have to enter a plea.   

Irvine's family spoke out for the first time publicly after Romero's court appearance. They were outraged he is currently facing only a manslaughter charge, and not murder, and upset that he also was offered bail instead of remanded into custody.  

"A miscarriage of justice"

"The idea of him being free after this charge, after the degree of danger that he's shown, after being the flight risk that he is, we think it's a travesty. It's a miscarriage of justice," Irvine family attorney Keith White said.

"I am upset. I am hurt, and I am not pleased with this court system, but in God we will trust. Koran was on his way home from work -- a hard day's work, and stayed overtime -- yet you had a retired police officer intentionally fire the bullet and kill him, and instead of it being murder, it's called manslaughter. But again, in God we will trust," Gale Ford, Irvine's aunt, said. "My nephew Koran was a devoted husband. He was a proud and present father in his home with his children." 

Irvine leaves behind a wife, 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. Ford said "a void was placed in our lives" following Tuesday's shooting. 

"My brother-in-law committed his life to providing for my sister and their two children. I have so many memories of holiday, trips and family gatherings, and so many hopes for the future. But now all I have are memories. His life was taken by an angry criminal with a license to kill. I am devastated. My family is devastated, and we'll never be the same," said Joana Suazo, Irvine's sister-in-law. 

"My brother's a hero. He's my hero," Irvine's sister, Zeria, said. "I talk to him every single day on that commute that he does to go home." 

Zeria Irvine was astonished that Romero is eligible for bail.

"Not only take my brother's life, he could have had major fatalities after my brother with that crash. And to go home and have dinner that same night? My brother was not able to go home and have dinner with his children or his wife. And they say that he's not a flight risk? And we can't take his passport away? He fled the scene and left my brother to die," Zeria Irvine said. 

"The difference between manslaughter or a second-degree murder charge or first-degree murder charge is intent. So what we'll see over the next couple of days is we'll see what comes from the investigation. And we'll see whether or not NYPD and the Manhattan DA's office does what they need to do in order to establish that intent," White said.  

"He was a happy person, full of life. He lived every day full of life," family friend Vanessa Miller said. 

What happened in court

In court, prosecutors told the judge the incident was a "particularly senseless killing" that was precipitated by a near-collision as Irvine and Romero's vehicles approached the bridge. Video allegedly shows Romero tailgating Irvine closely and aggressively, prosecutors said. They said Romero then pulled up next to Irvine and fired the deadly shot while both were driving.

After the shooting, Irvine's vehicle came to an abrupt stop, prosecutors said, while Romero allegedly kept driving across the bridge toward his home in Haverstraw, New York. 

Police found Romero the next morning at his private security job for a Manhattan hedge fund, and the same car from the videos was parked outside, prosecutors claim. Detectives searched Romero's Haverstraw home Thursday, where police say they recovered two handguns along with a third gun on him at the time of his arrest. 

Alan Abramson, Romero's defense attorney, told the court the incident is a tragedy, adding his heart goes out to Irvine's family. Abramson said Romero is a hero police officer who was awarded the Combat Cross for being involved in a shootout with would-be robbers at his family's laundromat. Abramson said Romero is married with four children and has been cooperative with police. 

Romero retired from the NYPD in 2001 shortly after being injured in a shootout with apparent robbers at his family's Brooklyn laundromat. He was off-duty at the time, and while a use of force complaint was lodged against him back then, it was dismissed once he retired. 

"To have an officer retire and not face any disciplinary action, the entire instance goes swept under the rug," Irvine family attorney Nick Liakas said.