A Tampa man is dead Sunday after police said his cousin shot him in the chest to see if the bulletproof vest he was wearing actually worked, WESH reports. Tampa police officers said Joaquin Mendez, 23, died of his injuries. The shooting occurred Saturday night, shortly after 10 p.m., in a home on Gordon Street in Tampa, WESH said. Authorities found the victim outside the home with a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers found a bulletproof vest with a gunshot inside the house, the website said. Although Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, told police that he heard a gunshot and found his wounded cousin outside, an unnamed witness told a different story, WESH said. The witness said Mendez put on a bulletproof vest and questioned whether it still worked. Garibaldi took out a handgun and said “Let’s see,” the witness told Tampa police. Mendez was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries. Garibaldi was arrested without bond and faces a manslaughter with a weapon charge, WESH said.

A Tampa man is dead Sunday after police said his cousin shot him in the chest to see if the bulletproof vest he was wearing actually worked, WESH reports.

Tampa police officers said Joaquin Mendez, 23, died of his injuries.


The shooting occurred Saturday night, shortly after 10 p.m., in a home on Gordon Street in Tampa, WESH said. Authorities found the victim outside the home with a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers found a bulletproof vest with a gunshot inside the house, the website said.

Although Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, told police that he heard a gunshot and found his wounded cousin outside, an unnamed witness told a different story, WESH said. The witness said Mendez put on a bulletproof vest and questioned whether it still worked. Garibaldi took out a handgun and said “Let’s see,” the witness told Tampa police.

Mendez was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries.

Garibaldi was arrested without bond and faces a manslaughter with a weapon charge, WESH said.