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LONG BEACH (CNS) - A Wilmington man accused of shooting a Long Beach bar employee during a verbal dispute pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge.
Salvador Rivera, 33, is charged in the Jan. 16 killing of James Lopez, 39, of Bell.
The shooting occurred at the Crow's Nest, according to multiple media reports.
Officers were sent to the business near the 1900 block of Willow Street at about 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 16 after a report of a shooting inside the business, and found Lopez suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Long Beach police said Lopez was involved in a verbal dispute with Rivera, a customer who allegedly fired several shots at him before fleeing the scene on foot.
Lopez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he subsequently died.
Rivera was arrested Jan. 21 during a traffic stop near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Roswell Avenue in Chino, according to police.
Detectives had gathered ``significant evidence'' connecting him to the killing, police said.
He has remained jailed since then in lieu of just over $2 million bail and is due back in a Long Beach courtroom March 17.