Victor Romero was arraigned on first-degree manslaughter in the George Washington Bridge shooting, and a judge set bail at $1 million.

The count at the arraignment is first-degree manslaughter. The count police announced at the arrest was murder. ABC7's Thursday story, written while the family was still waiting, still said murder and that the arraignment was expected. Bail of $1 million is what the judge set, CBS New York and Gothamist reported. The grand jury date CBS New York reported is Oct. 26. A plea, the station reported, would come only if the grand jury indicts.

Victor Romero, 62, a retired New York Police Department detective, was charged Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, with murder in the shooting of Koran Irvine on the George Washington Bridge, ABC News, NBC New York and the New York Post reported. Irvine, 46, was an off-duty Con Edison worker from Rockland County. ABC News reported he was driving a blue Volkswagen Golf in the westbound lanes of the upper level during Tuesday's rush hour. NBC New York also described the car as a blue Volkswagen Golf. The Post reported he was shot about 7:15 p.m. on the New Jersey-bound upper level. ABC News put the shooting just after 7 p.m. NBC New York put it around 7 p.m., when the upper level was shut down.

What officials have said about the wound is not the same account the sources gave the local stations. A Port Authority Police spokesperson told ABC News: "PAPD received reports of a one-vehicle crash on the westbound upper level of the George Washington Bridge. Responding officers found the driver with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head." ABC News reported he was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in New Jersey and pronounced dead. The Post also reported he was rushed to Englewood Hospital and later pronounced dead. NBC New York, citing law enforcement sources, reported a shot through a window struck him in the shoulder and exited his neck. The Post, citing sources, reported investigators preliminarily believe a single shot pierced the back window, grazed a headrest, entered the right shoulder and exited the left side of the neck, and that his car then rolled into the median. NBC New York reported a bullet fragment recovered from the car was being analyzed Wednesday afternoon. Those are the spokesperson's statement and the source accounts. They have not been tested in court.

The road-rage description is also an investigative theory, and the car accounts do not line up. ABC News reported police are looking at the shooting as a possible road-rage encounter after video showed Irvine's car in a near-collision with another driver, and that investigators said the near-collision happened on a ramp to the westbound upper level. ABC News reported that as both vehicles continued toward New Jersey, an occupant of the other vehicle opened fire, and that police said the shooter fled and that no description of the suspect's vehicle was released. NBC New York reported police have Romero's car in custody and have not shared the make and model, while investigators had been looking at whether a black Range Rover was involved. NBC New York reported police said his house in Haverstraw is off limits pending a search warrant. NBC New York and the Post reported he retired 25 years ago. ABC News reported the westbound upper-level lanes were closed about six hours and reopened around 1 a.m. Wednesday. NBC New York also reported the lanes reopened around 1 a.m.

How he came into custody is another split. ABC News reported Romero surrendered Wednesday afternoon after investigators said a person of interest was wanted, and that law enforcement sources told WABC the surrender was at the 33rd Precinct in upper Manhattan. The Post reported he was taken into custody less than 24 hours after the shooting, and that the NYPD said he was charged with murder and was awaiting arraignment Wednesday night. Attorney information was not immediately known, NBC New York reported. ABC News spelled the man who was killed as Koran Irvine when it described the driver, and as Koran Irvin when it said police identified the victim. NBC New York and the Post used Irvine. NBC New York reported he lived in Valley Cottage with his wife and two children. Con Edison said Wednesday, "We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a member of the Con Edison family in this senseless act of violence."

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, is the arraignment, and the count in court is the count CBS New York reported from that hearing. The station reported Romero was arraigned on first-degree manslaughter, that he did not enter a plea and did not speak, and that a judge set bail at $1 million. CBS New York reported prosecutors called the shooting a "particularly senseless killing" after a near-collision as the vehicles approached the bridge, that video shows Romero tailgating Irvine, and that he pulled alongside and fired while both were driving. The station reported prosecutors said Irvine's vehicle then stopped and Romero kept driving toward home, that three guns have been recovered from him, and that the district attorney will present the case to a grand jury on Oct. 26. CBS New York reported defense attorney Alan Abramson called the shooting a tragedy, said Romero was awarded the Combat Cross after a shootout with would-be robbers at his family's laundromat, and said he is married with four children and has cooperated with police. Gothamist reported Judge Kevin McGrath set the $1 million bail, that Assistant District Attorney Matt Sears said the shot fatally struck Irvine behind his right shoulder, and that Romero, in a white button-down shirt and khakis, said nothing. CBS New York did not name the judge. ABC7's Thursday story, published while Irvine's family was in court waiting, still described a murder charge, said the arraignment was expected, and said prosecutors were requesting $1 million bail. Wednesday's announcement was a murder charge. Thursday's arraignment count, in CBS New York's account, is first-degree manslaughter. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.