Man pleads not guilty in killing of Salinas officer

SALINAS, Calif. - The man accused of fatally shooting a Salinas police officer during a traffic stop last weekend has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Gustavo Matias Morales was arraigned Tuesday on a murder charge with a special circumstance for killing a police officer, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said.

Salinas Police Officer Jorge David Alvarado was killed during a shootout that erupted after he pulled over a car late Friday.

Morales was arrested when he showed up at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound.

Investigators have not said what was the traffic violation or what led to the shootout.

Alvarado’s death was the first of a police officer in the line of duty in nearly 80 years in Salinas, a city in a farming region about 100 miles south of San Francisco, Mayor Kimbley Craig said.

He was a five-year veteran of the police department who previously served in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Afghanistan, officials said.

Morales is scheduled to return to court on March 22, KION-TV reported.