Luvell Alverson, Gunpoint Robbery, Washington DC, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A brazen string of summer violence culminated in a guilty plea today as Luvell Alverson, 22, of Suitland, Maryland, admitted to terrorizing Southeast Washington. Alverson confessed to robbing four men at gunpoint before escalating the situation by firing upon Metropolitan Police Department officers who responded to the scene.

According to court documents, the incidents unfolded on the evening of July 11, 2016, stretching into the early hours of July 12th. Alverson, along with five accomplices, arrived at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in a Lincoln Navigator, parking behind the building near the 600 block of Alabama Avenue, SE. He then armed himself with a semi-automatic handgun and targeted four men enjoying a basketball game.

The victims were forced to the ground at gunpoint, relieved of their cell phones and keys. Adding insult to injury, Alverson reportedly fired multiple shots into the ground before fleeing with his crew. It wasn’t over. As the Navigator attempted to leave the school grounds, it was confronted by a responding MPD vehicle with three officers onboard.

A standoff ensued. The Navigator, blocked by the police cruiser, reversed course. Alverson, seated in the rear of the vehicle, then lowered a window and unleashed a volley of gunfire at the officers. Police returned fire, and Alverson bolted from the Navigator, attempting to evade capture. He was apprehended later that day, July 12, and has remained in custody ever since.

U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced that Alverson pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to four counts of armed robbery and three counts of assaulting a police officer while armed. The agreement stipulates a prison sentence of 10 to 16 years, pending approval by the court. Judge Danya A. Dayson has scheduled sentencing for December 13, 2016.

Phillips commended the diligent work of the Metropolitan Police Department in investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Schurmann, who prosecuted the matter, also received praise for securing the guilty plea. This case serves as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by law enforcement and the consequences for violent crime in the nation’s capital.