TAMPA, Fla. – A man wanted to see if a bulletproof vest that he had actually worked, so his cousin shot him in the chest, and wound up killing him, according to Tampa police.
It happened at a home located on Gordon Street in Tampa Saturday evening. Shortly after 10 p.m. TPD officers responded to the home after a report of a shooting.
When they arrived they located the victim outside of the house with a gunshot wound to the chest. In the house, the officers found blood and a bulletproof vest. Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, told them that he heard a gunshot and found the victim outside.
But a witness at the scene told another story. The witness said that the victim Joaquin Mendez, 23, sat in a chair and put on a bullet proof vest. He wondered out loud whether it still worked. Garibaldi took out a handgun, stated “Let’s see,” and shot at the vest. The vest was found in the house with a projectile entrance hole, according to TPD.
Mendez was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
Garibaldi was arrested and charged with manslaughter with a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.
