Former NYPD Detective Victor Romero indicted on a murder charge in fatal George Washington Bridge shooting

A retired NYPD detective charged with fatally shooting another driver during an alleged road rage incident last week on the George Washington Bridge has been indicted on a murder charge, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Victor Romero, 62, of Haverstraw in Rockland County, had been charged with murder initially, but was arraigned last week on the lower charge of first-degree manslaughter. The grand jury opted to upgrade that charge to second-degree murder, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office told Newsday via email.

"The presentation to the grand jury followed an extensive ongoing investigation since the criminal court arraignment last Thursday," the spokesperson added in a statement. 

Romero is accused of fatally shooting Koran Irvine, 46, a father of two from Valley Cottage in Rockland County.

He had entered a not guilty plea at his initial arraignment Thursday before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Kevin B. McGrath Jr. and was released on $1 million bail.

Romero will be arraigned on the upgraded charge on Nov. 23.

The attorney of record for Romero did not immediately return inquiries seeking comment on Tuesday.

According to law enforcement accounts, Romero, who was in a Range Rover owned by his employer, and Irvine nearly collided as their vehicles approached the bridge. Romero tailgated Irvine and pulled alongside his vehicle, then shot into his car, killing him, authorities said. The shooting occurred at about 7 p.m. on Oct. 20.

Authorities said Irvine, whose children are 11 and 14, was on his way home from his job at Con Edison.

Romero fled the scene and did not report the incident, authorities said, returning to work the following day to his job in private security for a luxury transport company in Manhattan.

He was arrested later that day, and police said two handguns were recovered from his home during a subsequent search.

Last week, another attorney representing Romero described the shooting as "a tragedy."

Keith White, the lawyer representing the estate of Irvine and his family, last week criticized the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for failing to prosecute Romero for second-degree murder, a crime in which a person intends to kill another person. First-degree manslaughter, a lesser charge, means a person intends to cause serious physical injury to another person and causes death instead.

An assistant district attorney, Matt Sears, told the court during the arraignment last week, "He is accused of a particularly senseless killing," adding that Romero "did not call 911 — and he did not turn himself in."

Romero was injured in a June 2000 off-duty shooting, then retired from the NYPD in 2001 after seven years on the job.