Ex-husband attacks former wife’s boyfriend with hatchet, then fatally shoots him in bloody Brooklyn love triangle, NYPD says

A former Georgian police officer was struck in the head with a hatchet and fatally shot by his girlfriend’s raging ex-husband during a bloody fight a Brooklyn strip mall parking lot, police said Friday.

Cops found 42-year-old Levan Galdava lying on the ground when they arrived at the Ocean Ave. parking lot at Voorhies Ave. in Sheepshead Bay around 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Levan Galdava

Galdava’s 44-year-old girlfriend was crying over his blood-soaked body, cops said.

She immediately pointed to her 47-year-old ex-husband Dmytro Lapko, who was standing by a Lexus SUV nearby. The car was parked in a spot outside the Liquor & Wine Warehouse in the strip mall, which also holds a grocery store.

When police arrived at the supermarket parking lot on Ocean Ave. near Voorhies Ave. in Sheepshead Bay around 9 p.m., they found the 42-year-old victim lying on the ground.

Galdava moved to the U.S. from Georgia three years ago, said friends and neighbors who were rattled by his gruesome death.

“I saw him outside yesterday,” said one neighbor before breaking down in tears. “Now he’s gone.”

A line of friends and community members streamed into Galdava’s home Friday, paying their respects to the victim’s family. Anguished cries from inside his apartment were so loud they could be heard from the sidewalk outside his four-story building.

Galdava was the super of his building, a longtime friend told the Daily News.

In Georgia he was both a police officer and a soldier, said the pal, who would only identify himself as Roman.

“He was in the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia and he was in Iraq with the U.S. forces,” Roman said. “He was a medic. He took care of injured soldiers.

“Now we have to choose the cemetery,” he said bitterly.

The victim had been struck in the head with a heavy blade and shot in the chest, police said. EMS rushed him to Coney Island Hospital but he could not be saved. His name was not immediately disclosed.

Galdava, a father of three, was struck in the head with a heavy blade and repeatedly shot in the chest, police said. EMS rushed him to Coney Island Hospital, where he died.

“He was a good man,” the neighbor said. Galdava and his wife were estranged but remained on good terms with each other, she said.

“This is terrible,” the woman said. “He was (someone) who was respectful. There were no arguments. [He was] always very happy.”

Cops found a bloody hatchet in the trunk of the ex-husband’s SUV, police said. The gun was found on the ground under the car.

Lapko fired at least four shots at the victim after striking him with a hatchet, police said.

He confessed to the attack and was taken into custody. Lapko, of Staten Island is charged with murder and weapons possession, police said.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button