SALINAS—A Salinas Police Department officer was shot and killed on Feb. 25 during a traffic stop, and a suspect has been arrested.
Salinas Chief of Police Roberto Filice said that around 10:45pm Officer Jorge David Alvarado, Jr. made a traffic stop on Griffin Street at E. Market Street. The suspect then sprang from his vehicle and unleashed a barrage of rounds at Alvarado while rushing toward his patrol car. Alvarado managed to return fire while seated in his car, injuring the suspect’s hand.
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said Gustavo Matias Morales, 31, was arrested later that same evening. He made his first court appearance Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty, the DA’s office said.
Morales is being charged with murder, discharging a firearm, and causing great bodily injury while committing a crime. The charges also include shooting at an occupied vehicle and a firearm enhancement.
“The special circumstances renders this murder a capital offense, punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole,” the DA’s office said.
Alvarado, 30, a five-year veteran in policing, was hit at least once and died shortly after, police say.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig. “Our community and our Police Department are devastated. The death of a Salinas Police Officer in the line of duty has not occurred in nearly 80 years.”
The investigation has been turned over to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Few other details have been released about the shooting.
“The officer stayed in the fight all the way to the end,” Filice said. “Ultimately, he paid the price for it. He gave his life for it. But thanks to his actions, we were able to apprehend the suspect, and we currently have him in custody. One of my officers, one of your officers, did the hardest thing anybody can ask any officer to do. He gave his life to his community.”
The incident fell on the ninth anniversary of the shooting deaths of Santa Cruz Police Sgt. Butch Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler. The two were killed in the line of duty on Feb. 26, 2013.
SCPD held a remembrance ceremony at 3:23pm, the time the duo was killed, at the Baker-Butler Memorial Garden in the department’s front courtyard.
