Man accused of killing officer is in country unlawfully: ICE
By Josh Copitch
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SALINAS, California (KSBW) — The man accused of shooting and killing a Salinas police officer was in the country unlawfully, reported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Feb. 25, Jorge David Alvarado Jr. was killed in the line of duty after pulling over the shooting suspect, identified as Gustavo Morales.
ICE told KSBW 8 that Morales is a Mexican national who was in the country unlawfully. ICE had been aware of Morales since 2008.
“Morales was first encountered near Calexico, California, for entry without inspection by border officials in August 2008, and was detained by local authorities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encountered Morales following his arrest related to imitation firearms in August 2013 and he was later convicted of multiple offenses over a range of dates, including altering an imitation firearm, giving false ID to a peace officer, driving without a license, and DUI,” said the agency when asked about Morale’s immigration status.
Morales was not deported since he was found guilty of misdemeanors.
A study published by PNAS looking at crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and native born citizens in Texas found that undocumented immigrants were half as likely to commit a crime as a US citizen.
“Our analysis reveals two broad conclusions about the criminality of undocumented immigrants. First, undocumented immigrants have substantially lower rates of crime compared to both native US citizens and legal immigrants. Second, over the 7 y period from 2012 to 2018, the proportion of arrests involving undocumented immigrants in Texas was relatively stable or decreasing,” concluded the 2020 study.
Morales was also on probation for domestic violence and prohibited from owning or transporting firearms.
According to a news release from the DA’s office, Alvarado initiated a traffic stop on Morales. Morales pulled over, immediately got out of his vehicle, and fire multiple gunshots at Alvarado. Alvarado was still in his car and returned fire. Morales was shot in the web of his left hand, the DA’s office reported.
The police chief said Alvarado was patrolling alone when he made that traffic stop, but that other units were already in route. The shooting happened before other officers could arrive to assist Alvarado.
“I can tell you just from the initial information that I got that officer Alvarado did not make any mistakes he did everything perfect unfortunately he lost his life but he made no mistakes at all,” Chief Roberto Filice said in an interview with KSBW 8 on Feb. 28.
Alvarado was 30 years old.
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