A video released online shows the moment a police officer in New Mexico was shot and killed during a traffic stop.
According to the New Mexico State Police in a news release, Officer Darian Jarrott initiated a traffic stop on a white Chevrolet pickup on Interstate 10 on Feb. 4. The driver, identified later as 39-year-old Omar Felix Cueva, was asked to exit the vehicle.
When he exited the truck, Cueva, according to the video footage, was holding a small rifle. He then fired several shots at Jarrott as he was walking around the rear of the vehicle, officials said.
“Cueva fired several more rounds at Officer Jarrott who was struck by gunfire and killed. As Cueva ran toward the front of the truck on the passenger’s side, he shot Officer Jarrott point-blank in the back of the head,” said the news release.
Later, a Homeland Security Investigations agent arrived on the scene and told the New Mexico State Police dispatch that an officer was shot and was down.
Cueva was located traveling east on I-10 near mile marker 116. Cueva pulled over his vehicle and fired at two New Mexico State Police officers, who returned fire. Cueva then continued to evade police and traveled east on I-10, officials said.
Several state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol assisted the state police in capturing Cueva.
Later, “various law enforcement officers engaged Cueva in gunfire as he fled” and attempted to deflate his pickup truck’s tires, the state police wrote.
“Prior to the pickup coming to a stop, Cueva exited the pickup armed with a firearm and shot multiple rounds towards the officers and deputies,” the state police’s release said. “[Las Cruces Police] Officer Adrian De La Garza and [sheriff’s] Deputies Diego Herrera and Obed Marte returned fire towards Cueva, who was struck several times by gunfire.”
Cueva ultimately died after being shot by officers.
It added, “Officer De La Garza was struck by gunfire and was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Texas where he was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries. Officers rendered aid to Cueva until emergency medical personnel arrived on scene. Cueva sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of Medical Investigator.”
