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.
