WASHINGTON — District officials identified Alexander Alverez as the officer involved in the shooting death of 18-year-old Deon Kay, adding the incident Wednesday marked the first time Alverez fired his weapon outside of MPD training exercises.
Alverez joined the police department in 2018, the officials said, working in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast D.C., and specifically operated within a team focused on preventing street crimes involving guns and drugs.
According to a senior Bowser Administration official, Alverez had one complaint filed against him before the shooting Wednesday afternoon.
The prior complaint was reviewed and then deemed to be “unfounded” by a police board. The matter was later dismissed, the official said.
Alverez is now on administrative leave, a standard procedure following a shooting.
Federal prosecutors with the District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office are now in the process of reviewing evidence collected from the scene. MPD’s use-of-force review board will also take a parallel role in the investigation.
During comments made earlier Thursday, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said the investigation into his department’s response is in its “infancy.”
Newsham added a conclusion as to whether the use of force was justified against Kay has not yet been determined.
“There’s a lot of work yet to be done before we come up with any conclusions,” Newsham said. He then offered condolences to the Kay family.
“I’m pretty sure that Deon Kay fell through multiple safety nets before yesterday afternoon at just before 4 o’clock (4 p.m.),” Newsham added.