LAS VEGAS (AP) - Authorities on Tuesday identified a coffee shop customer killed last weekend in a shooting inside a Las Vegas Starbucks and said it appeared that he did not know the man accused of killing him.
Aleksandr Khutsishvili, 41, of Las Vegas, died Sunday of a gunshot to the chest, Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said.
No other details were provided about Khutsishvili, and efforts to reach people who knew him via telephone numbers in public records were unsuccessful.
The suspect, Pedro Jose Garcia, is jailed pending a court appearance Wednesday on murder, robbery, burglary and weapon charges.
Detectives suspect the shooting was a random act by an enraged and agitated gunman, police homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said. The two men exchanged angry words before the shooting, but McGrath said detectives found no evidence they knew each other before the incident.
Garcia entered the store after his payment card was declined at the drive-thru window, and shot twice into the ceiling before shooting Khutsishvili, witnesses have said.
Garcia, a 34-year-old ex-felon, was arrested at the scene after police say he called 911, provided a fake suspect description and tried to leave the coffee shop with about a dozen other people.
He also told officers there was an explosive device in a backpack in the store, according to police. A bomb squad investigated, but no device was found.
Police said a .22-caliber handgun was found in the coffee shop.
Records show that Garcia served federal and Nevada state prison sentences for convictions on stolen vehicle, battery, attempted theft, drug and weapon charges. He was released from federal custody in November 2015.
A deputy Clark County public defender is expected to be appointed to his case.
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