Shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, May 28, the Kingston Police Department identified the officer who shot 18-year-old Alex Jeffries as Officer Steven Fellows, a decorated 22-year policeman and 14-year KPD veteran. Its release also stated that Fellows has been reassigned to “an administrative assignment” until the state police and Ulster County District Attorney’s Office finish the investigation into the incident.
According to troopers, who are running the investigation into the shooting at the request of the KPD, officers responding to a burglar alarm around midnight Wednesday at the Chase bank at the Kingston Plaza saw, when they got there, someone fleeing the rear of the building. A KPD officer (whom the state police release did not initially name) stopped Jeffries. Jeffries, the state police stated, “displayed a weapon and the officer fired one round, striking Jeffries in the abdomen.”
Troopers stated Jeffries was then arrested and taken to Albany Med for surgery. “The injury is not expected to be life-threatening,” the release stated.
Fellows was serving as senior officer on the 12-8 shift at the time of the incident, the Kingston police press release stated. It added that Fellows is a state-certified police field training officer and a general topics instructor and is also certified as an emergency vehicle operations course instructor.
In 1999, the release stated, the Town of Saugerties granted him its Dedicated Service Award. During his time in Kingston, he earned the KPD’s Distinguished Service Award in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
According to the release, Fellows is, “per Kingston Police Department practice,” under orders to not discuss the incident with the press or the public until the investigation is complete.