Retired NYPD detective arrested in murder of driver shot on the George Washington Bridge

A retired New York City Police Department detective was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a motorist on the George Washington Bridge, in an apparent road-rage case that occurred Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported.

The suspect is Victor Romero, 62, of Haverstraw, New York, who retired from the NYPD in 2001. Romero was formally charged with the murder of Koran Irvine, 46, of Valley Cottage, an employee of the Con Edison utility company.

The shooting happened around 7:18 p.m. Tuesday on the bridge's upper level, heading toward New Jersey. Irvine was found unconscious in the driver's seat of his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and his car crashed into the median. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Authorities closed several lanes for the investigation and reopened them about five hours later.

The George Washington Bridge, which connects Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey, is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and is considered the busiest bridge in the world, carrying about 100 million vehicles a year.

Police have not disclosed what triggered the confrontation between the two men, both from Rockland County. Romero's vehicle was taken into NYPD custody and his Haverstraw home was declared off-limits pending a search warrant, while investigators review the bridge's surveillance cameras. Romero had been a narcotics detective in Brooklyn and in June 2000 was wounded in the hand and chest during an off-duty shootout at his family's laundromat, after which he retired the following year, according to reports from the time.

Con Edison called the shooting "a senseless act of violence" and expressed condolences to Irvine's family, friends and colleagues.

This is a follow-up to last night's story: Shooting on the George Washington Bridge: upper-level lanes closed, driver reported shot.

Photo: AP

Source: Associated Press