In the late hours of March 31, 2020, Gregory Todd Deck, a 56-year-old male, was working at a boat repair shop in Auburn, Washington, located in the 3500 block of C Street Northeast. The evening took a tragic turn when a man entered the shop and demanded money from Deck and his 53-year-old co-worker.
During the attempted robbery, the assailant fatally shot Gregory Deck once in the chest. The attacker also pistol-whipped Deck's co-worker in the head. The suspect then fled the scene.
Authorities later identified the suspect as 26-year-old Rigoberto Alvarado, a man with a lengthy criminal history that included 13 prior felony convictions.
Investigators were initially led to Alvarado on April 10th for unrelated charges of trespassing and a drug offense. After encountering difficulties in confirming his true identity, he was arrested three days later in connection with the boat shop shooting. Alvarado was subsequently charged with first-degree murder for the death of Gregory Deck and second-degree assault for the attack on his co-worker. According to charging documents, the surviving victim told detectives that the assailant seemed unfazed by the act of shooting Deck at close range. Prosecutors noted that the violent encounter stemmed from the victims not having or not surrendering money quickly enough for the perpetrator. Rigoberto Alvarado was taken into custody and held without bail at the county jail.
