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Suspect in fatal shooting of Auburn policeman is dead
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Posted May. 22, 2016 at 6:51 AM
Updated at 8:33 PM
AUBURN - The suspect in the fatal shooting of an Auburn police officer is dead, District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. confirmed in a news conference Sunday evening.
"An exchange of gunfire erupted shortly after 6 p.m.," the DA said, resulting in fatal injuries to Jorge Zambrano, 35, of Worcester and injuries to a veteran state trooper who had entered the duplex looking for the suspect in Sunday's early morning slaying of Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr.
Officer Tarentino, who leaves a wife and three children, was shot and killed around 12:30 a.m. Sunday after stopping a vehicle on Rochdale Street. The assailant fled, and a manhunt for the shooter began.
Authorities did not immediately identify the trooper wounded in the exchange at 31-33 Watch St., Oxford, where the investigation led police and where the vehicle involved in the overnight slaying was located.
Col. Richard D. McKeon of the Massachusetts State Police, said the trooper was struck in the shoulder and is expected to survive.
Sunday afternoon, state and local police cleared residents from the neighborhood on Watch Street near the Leicester-Oxford town line. Police were seen wearing bulletproof vests, and what sounded like gunshots could be heard.
In Leicester, hundreds of people, many holding American flags, lined Main Street Sunday evening as Officer Tarentino's body was brought to Morin Funeral Home. As the silver hearse rolled by in a procession that included Auburn police cruisers and dozens of officers on motorcycles, residents, many with tears in their eyes, held their hands over their hearts.
As sirens wailed and blue lights flashed, the hearse pulled underneath a large American flag hoisted in the air on a firetruck ladder. Moments later, members of the department received hugs from Medford police, who helped with the escort, as well as state police.
“We will leave no stone unturned in our investigation to determine who was responsible for Officer Tarentino’s murder,” Auburn Police Chief Andrew J. Sluckis Jr. had said at a noon press briefing.
Chief Sluckis said an intensive investigation was launched by Auburn police, Massachusetts State Police, Worcester Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the office of the district attorney.
“We are devastated for his family,” Chief Sluckis said of the slain officer, who transferred to the Auburn force from the Leicester police two years ago. The chief spoke around noon at the Auburn police station with State Police Col. Richard D. McKeon and Mr. Early. “The residents of Auburn have lost a dedicated and brave public servant.”
Officer Tarentino's death is the second of a Central Massachusetts police officer in two months. Trooper Thomas Clardy of Hudson was killed March 16 in a car crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton.
Melissa MacDonald, a 29-year Auburn resident, was one of several to leave flowers at a memorial in front of the police station Sunday morning.
Ms. MacDonald said she did not know the slain officer but wanted to express her condolences.
"We're a very tight knit community," she said. "It's so sad."
State police divers were in a body of water Sunday afternoon near the scene of the shooting.
Officer Tarentino's body, accompanied by a procession of police vehicles, was transported from UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus, to the medical examiner's office in Boston. Later Sunday, the body was being returned to Leicester, with a motorcycle escort on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Police lined overpasses to watch the procession.
As the hearse approached the funeral home in Leicester, Matt Dennison, a former selectman said, "We don't think about this here. ... It's heartbreaking."
"He was a gentle giant," Mr. Dennison said. "He wasn't the kind of guy to use his stature to intimidate."Mr. Dennison recalled going on ride-alongs with Officer Tarentino and the officer showing him his beloved Mustang. "He was proud of it and be should have been," he said. "It was gorgeous."
Mr. Dennison's daughter Kaitlyn said she knows Officer Tarentino's oldest son, Ronald; she said Ronald, about 20, is a member of the armed forces and he was on his way home from South Carolina Sunday evening.
Leicester Police Chief James Hurley, one of the officers standing in front of the Tarentino home, referred comment to investigating authorities. Chief Hurley said he would speak later, after approval from the district attorney, about Officer Tarentino’s career with Leicester police.
In Auburn, a procession of police cruisers and police motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens sounding drove by the police station around 9:30 a.m. Auburn police officers stood outside the building and saluted.
A steady stream of well-wishers visited the Auburn police station Sunday.
They brought baked goods and condolences, and left bouquets of flowers at the police memorial outside the station, where the flag hung at half-mast.
Shortly after 9:15 a.m., a lengthy procession of police cruisers and motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens sounding passed the police station on Oxford Street North.
Station personnel stood on the side of the road and saluted as the procession passed. Some embraced one another.
At a playing field across the street, a softball mother watching the scene unfold at the police station said she herself was the sister of a New York policeman.
“You see a procession like this, it makes you want to bawl, “ she said.
Brad Petrishen of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.
Return to telegram.com for more on this story.
My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
I feel for the family of the Officer, but something bothered me about this issue. The police entered 33 without a warrant and shot this man. It appears they had access to 31, but what legal access did they have to enter 33?
ReplyDeleteI'm not defending anyone, just mentioning that "law and order" requires everyone to follow the rules.
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Deletefrankly , time to get real i think , the truth of this situation is base on guns The police should be ban form weapons unless approval is given by superiors ,over all situation , This understand would save thousands of lives making NO Hero's Frankly we have not over come the past thinking where good guys vs bad guys We have allowed a war zone in our streets , in every State of the union This gives no peaceful resolve ever ,This also makes judges and juries out of hired personal who stand above the law and reason . Trying to shoot weapons for a resolve That is WAR Even the grand jury cases law allows this distinction of judgement for any agent of the state ( police ) go figure that one out ? The case law for protection of you citizen is well establish back even before the republic was here YOU own a weapon use it ? , and its not dependent on police for law and order ,you see my point ?? Frankly there are too many agents who have perception to re-enforce by color of law anyone they feel is out of line . Citizen and children are victims of attacks by these agents Listen The common law said it well which still rules the state However statue law is one lacking in commonsense ... Our citizen are under no contact to honor anything but our instilled liberties No one police officer should ever attempt to take on anyone who is ready to kill , EVER end of story .. this is a case for surrounding and defusing the situation then protecting Life liberty and commonsense
ReplyDeleteThe other day I heard of another state officer who was accidental killed by speeder going 80 +MPH whereby the governor made a political propaganda comment blaiming the whole matter on medical marijuana his supporters said it was due to Cannabis am sure last night , The mindless statements attacking the massachusetts medical dispensary for selling 4 joints They reported the levels being exceeding the intoxicating limits ? Which is an political statement by a prohibitionist governor Which was an out right ... as reading form the paper the reported said nothing that would have been establish any such point ? and reading form a 2015 report on traffic safety facts publish by US Transportation Department a 11 page document did stated in 2015 there was to data nor real evidence to support Cannabis in causing any driving death or risks in ability to drive , this report shows the truth which over 10 year testing with thousands of tests scored , which was completed with statistical reports so called unbiased even ,and used for government data now 2016 This is a bias a virus which infects the thinking of hero's in the making .. Honor not war but reason not to cause war
I am glad fellow officers treated mr zambrano in the same manner he treated officer tarentino. fitting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDo....... Law and Order, either you believe in it or you dont.
ReplyDeleteVigilantism is ok with you, better not tick anyone off!
Do....... Law and Order, either you believe in it or you dont.
ReplyDeleteVigilantism is ok with you, better not tick anyone off!