{"id":2758,"date":"2024-03-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/officer-killed-new-mexico-highway-shooting-4150b013a1f6786ce4a396999d98f8eb\/"},"modified":"2024-03-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T00:00:00","slug":"officer-killed-new-mexico-highway-shooting-4150b013a1f6786ce4a396999d98f8eb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/officer-killed-new-mexico-highway-shooting-4150b013a1f6786ce4a396999d98f8eb\/","title":{"rendered":"Report finds flawed tactics, poor communication in a probe of New Mexico trooper's death"},"content":{"rendered":"
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Flawed tactics and poor communications were among the key findings of a New Mexico State Police internal review of the deadly shooting of an officer who unknowingly stopped an armed drug suspect while he was being tracked by federal agents as part of an undercover operation in February 2021.<\/p>\n
The report released Wednesday provides excruciating detail \u2014 partially drawn from dashboard and body-worn camera footage \u2014 of the death of Officer Darian Jarrott. He was killed by a burst of gunfire during a traffic stop on Interstate 10.<\/p>\n
The report also describes the killing of drug trafficking suspect Omar Cueva-Felix after a 40-mile (64-kilometer) vehicle chase and a shootout with authorities in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n
It concludes that two U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents and a State Police supervisor provided conflicting accounts about whether the supervisor received \u201cfull disclosure\u201d about Cueva-Felix\u2019s criminal history and an HSI plan to arrest him along the interstate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOmar Cueva-Felix killed Officer Jarrott in cold blood, and unfortunately, we cannot change that,\u201d New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement that accompanied the release of the report. <\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n How Texas\u2019 plans to arrest migrants for illegal entry would work if allowed to take effect<\/a><\/p>\n Law enforcement should have seized man\u2019s guns weeks before he killed 18 in Maine, report finds<\/a><\/p>\n Connecticut trooper acquitted in shooting death of Black college student following chase<\/a><\/p>\n The chief said the review resulted in several internal departmental policy changes and discussions about possible alternative actions and tactics for certain situations.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe highlighting of mistakes by different individuals involved in the incident and noting areas for improvement is done solely to learn and find ways to operate more safely,\u201d Weisler said.<\/p>\n Jarrott, 28, was the first New Mexico State Police officer killed in the line of duty in more than 30 year. A father of four, he became a state police officer in 2015 after working as a state transportation inspector.<\/p>\n The incident spawned multiple lawsuits that allege both HSI and Jarrott\u2019s superiors were negligent and did not warn the officer of Cueva-Felix\u2019s dangerousness beforehand. A federal judge in Albuquerque dismissed one of the cases last July<\/a> with a ruling that the government was immune from liability. <\/p>\n A State Police supervisor had asked Jarrott to pull over Cueva-Felix at the behest of federal agents. The request was made after the suspect sold a large quantity of drugs to an undercover agent, showed off a large rifle and told them he wasn\u2019t going back to prison.<\/p>\n Cueva-Felix, 40, of Deming, had what authorities described as an extensive criminal history in California and was known to carry firearms.<\/p>\n The fatal traffic stop occurred the afternoon of Feb. 4, 2021, on I-10, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Deming. Within minutes, Jarrott was ambushed and shot multiple times. Cueva-Felix then led authorities on a chase that ended with him being killed in Las Cruces<\/a> during a shootout that also injured a city police officer.<\/p>\n
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