Lopez allegedly slapped a boy with the back of his hand without any cause or provocation. Alvarado was passing by in a cruiser when Lopez took off — no responding to orders to stop. While his supervisor told him to stay with the victim, Alvarado took a witness in the cruiser in search of Lopez. When a neighbor pointed him to a shed, Alvarado called out that he was a police officer and entered the shed. He reportedly said that the boy jumped from a hiding place and tried to get out the door. The door hit Alvarado in the face and the police say he was in fear for his life. He then shoot and killed the fourteen-year-old boy. A witness stated that Lopez came out of the shed and said he “came at me.” He recounted later “The suspect bull rushed his way out of the shed and lunged right at me. The suspect was literally inches away from me, and I feared for my own safety.”
That would be controversial enough. However, reporters have learned that between March 2006 and November 2010, Alvarado was suspended four times and named for termination.
While Alvarado insisted that he shot the boy at close range, an autopsy revealed “no evidence of close range firing [on] the wound.” The San Antonio Police Department, however, ruled that the death was a “justified” shooting. Alvarado remains on the force. The boy’s family is suing the department.
Source: San Antonio