A U.S. Park Police officer is facing charges after he accidentally shot and killed another officer in an incident that reportedly involved alcohol.
Twenty-five-year-old Alexander Roy shot and killed a fellow off-duty officer early Sunday morning shortly before 12:30 a.m., according to WUSA. When officers from the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) arrived at the scene, they found 22-year-old Jesse Brown Hernandez dead, per the outlet.
Officers are on scene of a death investigation in the 1700 blk of Old Meadow Rd in McLean. Preliminarily, one person reported they accidentally shot an adult man. All parties are known to each other & detained. Adult man pronounced deceased. Detectives on scene investigating. pic.twitter.com/p5TgkxrB1O
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) November 5, 2023
Investigators claim Roy was dry-firing his weapon at the time of Hernandez’s death, WUSA noted.
“Dry firing is when one simulates the discharge of a firearm by pulling the trigger of a firearm that is unloaded,” FCPD explained in a press release, per the outlet.
Four people, three of whom were off-duty police officers, were inside the apartment when Roy shot Hernandez with a firearm he believed to be unloaded, FCPD said, according to WUSA, which also noted that alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the shooting. (RELATED: Forklift Operator Holds Alleged Car Thief 20 Feet In The Air While Waiting For Police)
“When I saw the number of Fairfax County police here it was a little unnerving,” Christopher Deane, who lives in the apartment building where the shooting took place, told the outlet. “If they can’t have proper gun safety then what does that say for everybody else?”
Roy is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond on charges of involuntary manslaughter, according to FOX 5.
The Daily Caller reached out to FCPD, which did not provide any further update on the situation.