APOPKA, Fla. – Family members of an Apopka man who was shot and killed at a Polk County gas station said the shooting was senseless.
In a news conference on Saturday, Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies arrived at a Citgo gas station at 4660 Highway 17 north and found Julian Garcia, 29, lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound.
Surveillance video captured Joshua Jay Pacheco, 28, in a violent exchange with Garcia. At one point, the video shows Garcia chasing Pacheco before the two men are out of the camera's frame. Deputies said it is not clear what provoked Garcia to charge at Pacheco.
Deputies said that, shortly after, Pacheco fatally shot Garcia in what might be classified as a "stand your ground" case, and fled the scene.
"What I can tell you initially is this is what 'stand your ground' was created for. It was created for a person standing there, minding their business, no conflict, no interaction, no problems," Judd said.
Julian Garcia's twin sister, Yolanda Garcia, said she could sense something was wrong before she heard the news.
"I kind of felt something was going on," she said. "My chest was hurting. Then, all of a sudden, I started feeling empty."
Adding to the emptiness and shock of what happened, Julian Garcia's fiance, Yasmine Contero, said she arrived to the scene of the shooting, where there was little hope the father of four would survive.
"When I got there, I saw paramedics all around him, a lot of people surrounding him," Contero said.
Contero said her children are traumatized and her eldest son was in the car and witnessed the shooting.
Deputies said the two men did not know each other prior to the shooting and each has a checkered criminal past.
The sheriff said he is interested in hearing from Pacheco about the shooting and said, once the investigation is complete, the Polk County Sheriff's Office will turn the case over to the state attorney's office.