Massachusetts Cop Killing Suspect Fatally Shot After Standoff

The officer worked in Auburn, about 50 miles west of Boston.

ByABC News
May 22, 2016, 7:53 PM

— -- The suspect in the killing of a 42-year-old Massachusetts police officer was shot and killed Sunday evening during a shoot-out at a home just miles from the initial incident, officials said.

A state trooper was also wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the suspect, who was identified as 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano, who officials said had an extensive criminal history.

Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop around 12:30 a.m. in Auburn, Massachusetts, about 50 miles west of Boston, police said. He is survived by his wife and their children.

The shooter fled the scene, and he was eventually located at a duplex in Oxford, less than 5 miles from the scene of Tarentino's shooting, police said.

Police surrounded the home. Officials would not say what was going on, but ABC News reporters on the scene heard officers apparently negotiating with someone inside, trying to persuade the person to come out.

The apartment where the suspect was found was initially cleared by police. After finding an opening in the cellar of the home, a state police special tactical operations team entered the building, officials said.

Officers encountered Zambrano on the second floor of the building after he burst out of a closet, shooting and wounding the trooper. An officer returned fire, fatally shooting Zambrano, Massachusetts State Police Col. Richard McKeon said.

The injured trooper, an 18-year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police and a former Navy SEAL, was able to walk as he was taken to UMass Medical Center's university campus. Officials declined to release the trooper's name but said he is expected to survive.

Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis called the killing of Tarentino a "tragic loss," describing him as a "dedicated and brave public servant."

"Officer Tarentino worked here for two years, and there's not a member of this department that didn't embrace him and like him," Sluckis said this evening. "He got along with everybody. He was somebody that was always smiling."

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said the investigation into Tarentino's murder is ongoing, even though the suspect is dead.