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Three shot in Falls Church
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A shooting occurred Saturday outside this establishment in Falls Church after a dispute over a karaoke song. - Courtesy photo
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The popular Mexican song “¿Quien Eres Tú?” nearly cost three Virginians their lives Saturday night.
Around 11 p.m. Saturday, a twentysomething Falls Church man was singing along with the song — translated as “Who are you?” — as he watched the lyrics stream across a karaoke machine at El Catrin restaurant in Falls Church.
He was out of key, but not terribly, the restaurant’s owner said, declining to publicly release her name in fear of retribution after what came next.
A man who police believe was Vitalino Gomez-Carreto, 23, of no fixed address, took issue with the twentysomething’s singing in the mostly empty restaurant/bar.
He called over, “Why don’t you let the karaoke man sing?” he said, according to the owner, referring to the man hired to sing the tunes for bar patrons.
The twentysomething didn’t respond. Instead, his friend sitting across the table shouted back, “Do you have a problem with what he’s singing?”
The owner said Gomez-Carreto leapt to his feet and said, “Yes, he doesn’t know how to sing.” Witnesses said he charged forward, his girlfriend trying to hold him back.
He slowed a few feet from the twentysomething’s table, and that’s when the owner said she saw the tip of a knife’s blade peeking out of his right pocket where his hand was headed. The woman screamed for security, and before Gomez-Carreto could act, the security guard was pulling him from the bar.
“I’ll be back,” he reportedly told the security guard.
The still-fearful owner said 30 minutes passed in peace. Then the twentysomething and two other men, another about the same age and a 52-year-old from Arlington, were out front smoking cigarettes and talking when Gomez-Carreto returned.
Fairfax County police say around 11:40 p.m., Gomez-Carreto approached the three people in front of El Catrin, a handgun in each hand, and opened fire, nearly killing the 52-year-old as bullets raked his upper body and less severely injuring the other two men — a 23-year-old from Falls Church and a 25-year-old with no fixed address — before fleeing in a car in an unknown direction.
Police confirmed that at least one of the men in their 20s was the person Gomez-Carreto argued with inside El Catrin.
As the bullets flew outside, the owner and waitstaff ducked behind the bar; customers fled to a protected area near the bathrooms in the back. One bullet entered the restaurant, but no one inside was injured.
The owner said none of the young men involved in the karaoke-inspired dispute seemed particularly drunk, and noted that Gomez-Carreto was on his way out at the time, having already paid his bill.
Gomez-Carreto remains at large. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts should call 1-866-411-8477.
fklopott@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
8:36 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 16, 2008 re: "Three shot in Falls Church"
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Examiner Reader said:
Well there you go assimilation at its best Bring it on, Falls Church Police are too busy busting speeders in their 20 mph zones. Expensive homes and high crimes ..... Lets all sing Kumbaya
2 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Get over the immigration issue! Just because someone is listening to and singing Spanish music, you assume they are illegal - give us all a break!!
4 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner reader said:
Immigration status, please?
4 agree | 7 disagree
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gunsrgood said:
when you place a ban on handguns the only people who carry them are criminals and cops. If citizens would be allowed to carry them that guy would never have gotten of a single round. and the only person who would have been injured would be him. lift the ban on handguns. for your own protection.
11 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Someone shoud as the Mayor why one of the 15 year old kids shot was taken out of his class room not by school staff but by members of the Peaceaholics and made to confront the same group that hours later would shoot him. The Peaceaholics were not even supposed to be in the school let along allowed to take a child out of class to confront other students. This confrontation lead to the shooting a short time later.
41 agree | 46 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
9 police officers in one school. Let me guess...
39 agree | 34 disagree
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Veteren said:
Here we go again, stupid children with no parential guidance doing stupid things. Neighborhood Feud over property and space they have no ownership in. I will bet when this investigation is complete the perpetrators will be a mixture of high school drop outs who reside with a relative who provide no parental guidance and reside in public housing. Another sad state of the District mis-guided policies and poor parential guidence who allow their thug children to prevent those students trying to do the right thing in obtaining an education
56 agree | 35 disagree
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