Mechanicsville man charged with assaulting, shooting at ex-wife

A 47-year-old Mechanicsville man is in custody following a late Saturday night incident in Great Mills during which a woman was allegedly assaulted and seriously injured.

According to a St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office press release, John William Alvarado was apprehended Sunday in the Leonardtown area.

According to court documents filed by sheriff’s office Detective David Lawrence, patrol officers had initially reported to Nicholas Court in Great Mills in response to reports of shots fired.

The deputies found a woman, identified in court papers as Michelle Alvarado, “who was bleeding from the head and indicated she had just been assaulted.”

She identified the defendant as the person who assaulted her, Lawrence said.

The woman told deputies she had been struck in the head by the defendant with a handgun.

Michelle Alvarado said her former husband “was coming to the residence to exchange custody of their two small children,” Lawrence said in court documents. “The defendant arrived in an unknown black passenger car, possibly a rental vehicle. He also was reported to have fired two shots from the handgun.”

Lawrence said deputies located two spent casings in from of the residence.

Michelle Alvarado was subsequently flown to Capital Regional Center for treatment of her injuries, which were described by Lawrence as non-life-threatening.

The detective reported a neighbor’s surveillance camera captured the incident. The images depict Alvarado striking his ex-wife on the head with the gun four times. After she broke free, John Alvarado is heard saying, “I’ll blow your head off,” Lawrence stated in court papers.

John Alvarado then fired two shots in the direction of the fleeing victim.

“The first shot was only a foot or two from her and the second was approximately three feet from her,” Lawrence stated. “He then walks back to the car and drives away.”

Lawrence said it was learned that John Alvarado was convicted of second-degree assault in Charles County in 2001 and is prohibited from possessing regulated firearms.

John Alvarado is charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault,, firearm use during the commission of a violent crime and regulated firearm illegal possession.

The defendant is being held without bond. A district court hearing on the charges John Alvarado is facing has not been scheduled at this time.