Colombia soccer player who killed heckler in drunken confrontation says he wanted to scare fan

Colombian player says he didn’t mean to kill fan

MADRID — A Colombian soccer player who admitted killing a heckling fan this month said he was drunk during their confrontation and wanted to simply scare the man with a gun.

Javier Florez surrendered to authorities in the Colombian city of Barranquilla hours after the fatal shooting. He was charged July 13 with aggravated homicide and pleaded gulity to illegally carrying a firearm. He could face up to 50 years in prison, with his trial to start in the coming months.

The fan had been taunting Florez after Athletic Junior lost in the local Colombian league July 5. Florez said he reacted after a stone was thrown at his car.

“I was drunk, full of hate, of fury,” Florez told the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. “They challenged me to fight. I went up to them, pulled the gun out and one of them jumped at me to take it away. In this altercation, the horrible thing happened. I shot several times. I don’t remember very well.”

Florez denied that he intended to kill the man.

“I parked the car and went to confront them,” he said. “I was carrying a gun and thought it would scare them.”