No Charges to Be Filed in Fatal Shooting of Aggressive Neighbor

Murder charges will not be filed against a 52-year-old man who shot his neighbor to death during an argument over a car accident, the district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Michael Bruce Brandt was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Jose Galindo Retano on Aug. 27, just as Retano was kicking on his apartment door, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Cafferty said.

Witnesses told police that Retano was driving into the driveway at the small apartment complex, at 34032 Malaga Drive, where both men lived, when he lost control of the car.

Retano, 32, crashed his car into the apartment’s brick planter, and Brandt apparently made fun of the Retano’s driving abilities, Cafferty said. The two men began to argue and Brandt stormed off into his apartment, Cafferty said. Retano also went into his own apartment but later returned and began kicking on Brandt’s door, threatening to kill him, Cafferty added.

At that point, Brandt fired a round from his shotgun, hitting Retano in the left side, Cafferty said. Retano died in his apartment before paramedics arrived.