Police fatally shoot illegal immigrant near airport

Charles Wiff 03/22/10
Sheriff says officer acted appropriately


An Albany County Sheriff’s Officer deputy shot and killed an illegal immigrant in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 20, near Albany International Airport.

Police say Marcus DeJesus Alvarez, 36, of 59 Central Avenue, Albany, threw a chunk of concrete at Deputy Vincent Igoe and then charged at the officer, who shot him twice in the torso.

A subsequent investigation revealed Alvarez was in the country illegally, and had a wife and five children living in Mexico to whom he was sending money. Police informed his wife—Augustina Cruz Garcia—and family of his death by phone Sunday night.

Police interviewed three inmates at the Albany County Correctional Facility who were also illegal immigrants. They had been arrested in connection with a stabbing in the Latham Village apartments about a quarter mile from where the shooting took place.

“We were thinking all along that there had to be something to do with immigration,â€