EL CAJON – A Spring Valley man pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he shot his girlfriend in the back at a bar on Jamacha Road.
Carl Jackson, 40, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and assault with a firearm in connection with the Sunday shooting of Karen Vidro at Shooters Bar, said prosecutor Chantal De Mauregne.
The prosecutor said outside the courtroom that Jackson was on parole for a residential burglary at the time of the shooting.
Superior Court Judge Laura W. Halgren ordered Jackson held in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail pending a Nov. 15 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
Jackson said nothing in court. The judge appointed the county Alternate Public Defender's Office to represent him.
Sheriff's deputies have said that several bar patrons called emergency dispatchers around 7 p.m. Sunday to report a shooting at the bar.
Witnesses told deputies that Jackson entered the bar, confronted Vidro, displayed a handgun and shot at her, spokesman Lt. Dave Myers said in a news release.
Myers said witnesses reported that Jackson had made statements that he was going to kill his girlfriend.
After the shooting, bar patrons subdued Jackson and held him until deputies arrived, Myers said. He said deputies found Vidro, 41, lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to her upper back.
Paramedics brought Vidro to a hospital. She was listed in critical condition yesterday, prosecutor De Mauregne said.
The prosecutor said she could give no further details of the incident because it is still under investigation.
Ray Huard: (619) 542-4597; ray.huard@uniontrib.com
