Frank Alvarado, a 39-year-old resident of Salinas, California, died on July 10, 2014, in an officer-involved shooting. The incident occurred around 5 a.m. when Salinas police responded to reports of Alvarado acting erratically. Upon arrival, officers found Alvarado at Fairview Avenue and Beverly Drive. According to police accounts, Alvarado was behaving in a threatening manner, holding his hand to his waist as if he were armed.
Despite commands to raise his hands, Alvarado reportedly charged at the officers while yelling, "Let's do this," and holding his arms outstretched as if aiming a firearm. This led the officers to open fire, resulting in Alvarado's death.
The Monterey County District Attorney's office conducted an investigation into the shooting and concluded that the officers were justified in their actions, describing the incident as a "suicide by cop." The DA's report noted that Alvarado had previously told his mother he would not return to prison and that officers would have to kill him first. On the day of the shooting, Alvarado had set fire to his family's couch and curtains and physically assaulted a family member. Toxicology reports revealed that Alvarado was under the influence of methamphetamine, amphetamine, and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) at the time of the incident.
Following Alvarado's death, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Salinas Police Department, alleging that the officers had opened fire without warning on an unarmed man. The lawsuit disputed the police's account of the events, arguing that Alvarado had begun to comply with the officers' commands before they shot him. However, in February 2016, the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled. The reasons for the dismissal were not publicly disclosed, and the family's attorney did not provide further comments.
The shooting of Frank Alvarado was one of several officer-involved shootings in Salinas in 2014, all of which involved Latino men. These incidents sparked protests and demands for justice from the community, with demonstrators calling for an end to police brutality and accountability for the officers involved. Despite the controversy and public outcry, the official investigations cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, and no criminal charges were filed against them.
