On a Sunday morning in Las Vegas, a 41-year-old White male named Aleksandr Sasha Khutsishvili was at a Starbucks coffee shop several miles west of the Strip on September 25, 2016. A man, later identified as Pedro Jose Garcia, entered the store after his credit card was declined at the drive-thru. An argument ensued, with loud voices attracting the attention of others in the coffee shop, though it was not entirely clear if the argument was directly between Garcia and Khutsishvili.
The
verbal altercation escalated tragically when Garcia stood up, pulled out a handgun, and fired at Khutsishvili, who was sitting in a corner. Khutsishvili was struck in the chest and fell to the floor near the entrance. Garcia fired three shots before his weapon reportedly malfunctioned. At the time of the shooting, Khutsishvili was unarmed, with only his laptop and cellphone in his possession. Other customers scrambled for cover as the violent scene unfolded.
Pedro Jose Garcia, a 34-year-old ex-felon, was arrested and subsequently charged with murder. Khutsishvili, known as "Sasha" to his friends, was a U.S. citizen who had immigrated from the country of Georgia. In his native country, he had served in the military in a unit that protected the former Georgian President, Eduard Shevardnadze. Friends remembered him as a courageous individual who would not hesitate to intervene in a conflict to help others. He was a twice-divorced father of three and had moved to Las Vegas a few years prior to his death.
