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Family speaks out after son killed in tattoo shop

Posted at 12:02 AM, Jul 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-23 03:14:23-04
A couple is in mourning. Their son was gunned down after a fight in a tattoo shop boiled out of control.
 
It all began at Sin City Ink Tattoo at Tropicana and Pecos when Fernando Montano, Jr., walked in to confront a man who worked there.
 
But it ended badly when that employee shot and killed Montano. His parents said it should never have gone that far.
 
“He’s dead. He should be here with his kids, with his wife, with all his family and friends.” Said Maria Montano, who fought to speak through her tears.
 
Right now, Montano is in agony. “I feel like the world’s spinning, and I’m standing in the middle,” she said.
 
Montano said her son was a generous, hard-working man, with a wife, two young sons and a daughter. “He had a heart of gold.  He would give you the shirt if you needed it,” Montano said.
 
But her son had another side. “He had a temper if you pushed him the wrong way and pushed his buttons.”
 
On Monday, according to a police report, Fernando Montano, Jr., and another man, Eric Garcia, walked into the tattoo shop to confront an employee there and “hit and kicked him.” Police said both Montano and Garcia were armed with handguns.
         
“Yes, he had a gun. He didn’t go in there shooting. He went in there and fought like a man with his hands,” Montano said.
 
The employee feared Fernando was “going to kill him.” He grabbed a gun and opened fire, striking Montano.
 
“Maybe yes, he shouldn’t have gone and do what he did. But when he left my house, I told him ‘if you’re going to fight with someone use your fists like I taught you,’” Montano said.
 
The Montano’s will hold a funeral for their son on Saturday, just a couple of days before his 27th birthday.
 
Garcia faces an attempted murder charge.
 
The tattoo shop would not comment.