Concertgoer Killed By Stray Bullet

By Joshua Robin and Bryan Virasami

November 26, 2001

A Mexican immigrant who came to New York eight months ago was accidentally killed Saturday night while he waited on line for a concert, becoming the third bystander killed in a week, police said.

Jorge Correa Garcia, 29, a bicycle messenger who lived in Williamsburg and was planning to move to Pennsylvania, was shot in the back as he stood outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, according to police.

Two other concertgoers were also wounded in the 10 p.m. shooting, which police believe had been intended for another target, according to Sgt. Gerry Falcon, a police department spokeswoman.

Police are looking for a single gunman. Police are uncertain who the gunman intended to shoot or why the shooting began. A .38 caliber revolver was recovered at the scene, police said. ...

Garcia, who was known as George, left his mother and a child in Mexico City about eight months ago to come "to get a better life," his friend David Gill said yesterday.

Garcia worked as a messenger in Manhattan and sent back to Mexico about half of his $300 weekly salary, Gill said.

For about the last three months, Garcia lived with his girlfriend, Juanita Nieves, and her three children and one granddaughter, in a small apartment on Ten Eyck Street. In his spare time, he played soccer at a local park, watched soccer games on television and tinkered with cars.

Garcia, Nieves and the children were planning on moving to Pennsylvania soon, to leave the city, said Barbara Nieves, 10, Juanita's daughter.

Juanita Nieves was planning Garcia's funeral, and could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Among the few possessions Garcia left in his threadbare room before departing were a New York Jets pillow and a worn English-language instruction book for Spanish speakers.