Former NYPD detective Victor Romero charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting on George Washington Bridge

A retired NYPD detective was charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday following what authorities said was a fatal shooting triggered by road rage Tuesday night on the George Washington Bridge.

Victor Romero, 62, of the Hudson Valley town of Haverstraw, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, accused of killing off-duty Con Edison worker Koran Irvine, 46, a father of two from Valley Cottage in Rockland County.

Prosecutors said Romero fatally shot Irvine on the outbound upper level of the bridge at 7 p.m. during a confrontation Tuesday.

Irvine’s family filled two rows of the courtroom Thursday as the charges against Romero were read. Judge Kevin McGrath Jr. set bail at $1 million.

"He is accused of a particularly senseless killing," Assistant District Attorney Matt Sears said.

Police initially charged Romero with murder, but that was downgraded to manslaughter Wednesday.

A person is guilty of first-degree manslaughter when "with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he causes the death of such person," according to New York State law. 

Bridge surveillance footage showed Romero and Irvine nearly collided as both approached the bridge. Video showed Romero’s SUV tailgated Irvine’s car, pulled to the right and fired into Irvine’s car while they were side by side, Sears said.

The gunshot blasted through the rear passenger window and hit Irvine behind his right shoulder.

"The surveillance video establishes that this was the moment of the gunshot that killed Mr. Irvine, because Mr. Irvine's car came to an abrupt stop in the middle of free-flowing traffic on the bridge," Sears said.

Prosecutors said in the criminal complaint that Irvine’s car lurched across four lanes and crashed into the center divider on the bridge.

Romero, in his employer's Range Rover, then sped around the left side of Irvine's vehicle and headed north toward his home, prosecutors said.

Romero worked for a luxury transport company and in private security, prosecutors said. He returned his employer’s vehicle when he went to work in Manhattan on Wednesday, Sears said. Police went to his office Wednesday and recovered the Range Rover, also finding two handguns during a search of his home.

"The evidence of the defendant's guilt is strong, and the prison sentence he's likely exposed to is substantial. The defendant left the scene. He did not call 911, and he did not turn himself in," Sears said in asking for $1 million bail.

Romero’s attorney, Alan Abramson, called the shooting "a tragedy," but said the retired detective was "a hero police officer" who was awarded the NYPD's Combat Cross following a June 2000 shooting during which he was injured.

Abramson said Romero was cooperative with police and voluntarily surrendered.

"He is not charged with murder," the attorney said. "There are many elements to the case up in the air."

Irvine’s aunt, Gale Forde, and other family members decried the manslaughter charge, saying: “Koran was on his way home from work, yet you had a retired police officer intentionally fired a bullet and killed him. And instead of it being murder, it's called manslaughter.”

Irvine’s sister, Zeria Irvine, 31, of Brooklyn, who attended the arraignment with other family members, said she would speak with her brother during his commute, which included crossing the bridge from his job working on a 48th Street substation for Con Ed. He was the father of two kids, 11 and 14.

“My brother is a hero. He’s my hero,” she said. “Recklessness and ego of the road rager to take my brother’s life … to go home and have dinner that same night. My brother was not able to have dinner with his children or his wife. He fled the scene and left my brother to die.”

Prosecutors pursued the manslaughter charge based on Romero's intent in the shooting, according to the district attorney’s office.

An attorney for the Irvine family, Keith White, described Romero as a flight risk, calling it “a miscarriage of justice” to charge him with manslaughter and arguing Romero was given preferential treatment, including being led to court away from news cameras.

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

Romero retired in 2001 after seven years with the NYPD, according to police records. He served as a Brooklyn narcotics officer. He retired on three-quarters disability pension because of injuries sustained in the 2000 shooting, a department official said.

Romero maintained a concealed carry license following his retirement as a police officer, which was the gun believed to be used during the 2000 shooting, White said.