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 TAMPA (FOX 13) - Police say a Tampa man was fatally shot while testing a bulletproof vest.
It was Saturday night when officers were called to a home on E. Gordon Street. When they got to the home, they found Joaquin Mendez outside the house with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police say that the victim's 24-year-old cousin, Alexandro Garibaldi, claimed he found Mendez outside with a gunshot wound. However, another witness told a different story.
According to TPD, the unnamed witness told officers that Mendez sat in a chair and put on a bulletproof vest, wondering aloud if the vest still worked. According to the witness, that's when Garibaldi said, "Let's see," and then shot at the vest worn by Mendez.
Police later found the vest inside the house -- with a bullet hole.
Mendez was taken to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries.