Man charged with shooting at DC officers after armed robbery, carjacking

WASHINGTON - A Maryland man has been charged after a gun battle and standoff with officers in Southeast D.C.

It all began early Tuesday at around 12:13 a.m. when police said a suspect robbed four people at gunpoint in a parking lot behind Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School on 6th Street.

D.C. police said after the robbery, the suspect, identified as 22-year-old Luvell Alverson, of Suitland, Maryland, fired multiple shots in the direction of the victims before attempting to get away.

The suspect then carjacked an SUV with five people inside and demanded the driver to take him somewhere else, according to police.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier said a shot spotter, a computer program that alerts police to gunfire in the city, picked up the sounds of gunshots and officers responded to the area of Alabama Avenue.

After locating the SUV, the robbery suspect then fired at police officers from inside the vehicle while officers fired back. For about 30 minutes, there was a standoff as police attempted to get the gunman and his apparent hostages out of the vehicle. The suspect was struck in the leg by police gunfire and eventually taken into custody.

None of the victims or officers were injured.

Alverson has been charged with armed robbery, kidnapping and assault on a police officer.

Several shots, as many as seven, struck the upper level windows of the elementary School and damaged as many as three panels on the third floor of the building.