Sep 4, 2008 5:26 am US/Pacific
Fairfield Councilman Murder Probe Intensifies
FAIRFIELD (CBS13/AP) ―
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Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia
City of Fairfield
The family of a 22-year-old Fairfield councilman said their final goodbyes Wednesday as his body was turned over to organ donor teams. Meanwhile, more than 100 law enforcement officers are trying to track down a suspect in the case.
Matt Garcia was hospitalized at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek after he was shot in the head Monday. He was declared brain dead and his family planned to take him off life support.
Ron Marlette, a spokesman for the family, said Garcia wanted to donate his organs.
Garcia had just stepped out of his car outside a friend's home around 8:30 p.m. Monday when a gunman got out of a mid-90s, American model sedan and fired several shots from a distance of about 50 yards, according to police. A single bullet from a small caliber handgun or rifle struck Garcia in the back of the head, police said. A woman with whom he was talking was uninjured.
Wednesday evening, police went to the residence of Jennifer Tarbell. She was then escorted out of the house, uncuffed, and placed in the front seat of the detectives vehicle. Tarbell was the last person to see Garcia alive, but police are now talking with her as a crucial witness in this case.
The gunman -- described as a man in his late teens or early 20s -- then got back into the car and fled.
Police said Wednesday that they have recovered at least eight small caliber bullet casings at the scene that have been sent off to the Department of Justice for analysis.
But investigators still do not have a motive in the shooting.
Meanwhile, Garcia's friends and colleagues are remembering him as an ambitious man who cared deeply about Fairfield.
Garcia was just 21-years-old when he was sworn in last fall as a councilman, making him one of the youngest elected officials in California.
He vowed to focus on crime prevention, economic development, community growth and keeping Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, according to his campaign Web site.
Garcia said his father had spent time in prison, used drugs and been involved with gangs, and he credited his grandmother and other family members from keeping him from a similar fate.
A prayer service is scheduled for Garcia tonight at Parkway Community Church in Fairfield.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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