Background: Location of apartment complex where an off-duty U.S. Park Police officer allegedly fatally dry fired his firearm at a fellow off-duty officer (YouTube screenshot WUSA). Inset: Alexander Roy booking photo (via Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department).
A 25-year-old U.S. Park Police officer is being held without bond in Virginia after authorities allege he shot and killed a fellow officer while drunkenly dry firing a gun at a private residence in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
The Fairfax County Police Department issued a statement on Sunday saying that police in McClean, Virginia responded to reports of a person being shot just after midnight inside of a private residence. When they arrived, they said they found off-duty U.S. Park Police officer Jesse Brown Hernandez, 22, on the ground with multiple gunshots scattering his upper body.
He was deceased by the time Fairfax officers arrived.
An initial investigation by detectives, the department said, determined that Brown was shot by fellow Park Police Officer Alexander Roy, 25. The men were off duty together and inside of an apartment in McClean when the shooting occurred. There were a total of four people inside the unit and Fairfax County Police said three of the four people inside were U.S. Park Police officers, including Hernandez and Roy.
“Preliminarily, detectives determined Alexander Roy … was attempting to dry fire a firearm. Dry firing is when one simulates the discharge of a firearm by pulling the trigger of a firearm that is unloaded. Roy unintentionally shot the firearm he believed to be unloaded, fatally striking Hernandez. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the shooting,” local police said Sunday.
Roy has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. It is unclear when he will appear in court in Fairfax County. A Fairfax County court clerk told Law&Crime on Monday by phone that charging papers had not yet hit the docket Monday morning and this could be due to the late hour of the alleged shooting.
In a statement from U.S. Park Police to Law&Crime, a spokesperson said Monday: “We are aware of the incident involving off-duty United States Park Police (USPP) employees at a private residence in Fairfax County. The incident is under investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department and all questions related to this investigation will need to be referred to them. Our focus right now is on supporting the family, friends and coworkers of our employees involved in this tragic incident. USPP has nothing further to share at this time.”
Under Virginia law, U.S. Park Police are imbued with similar powers to municipal police but it is unclear whether the department has restrictions set on when or where Park Police can take their weapons while off duty A spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about weapons training for officers or other regulations and restrictions.
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