Who was Darion Jarrett? New Mexico cop gunned down with 'AR-15-style rifle' at traffic stop in shocking video
Warning: Graphic content
DEMING, NEW MEXICO: A police officer stopped a Chevrolet truck driver because the truck's windows were dark-tinted. However, the February 4 traffic stop led to the police officer, Darion Jarrett, being brutally killed. It is believed that Omar Felix Cueva was on his way to work out a drug deal when he was asked to pull over by Jarrett and he shot point-blank at the cop.
Police officials have now released a clip of the incident that occurred on Interstate 10 near mile marker 102 east of Deming, New Mexico, and also revealed further details. They said that Jarrett had asked Cueva to exit his vehicle. Cueva stepped out with his "AR-15-style rifle" and shot the officer. Jarrett dodged the bullet and fell onto his back, but Cueva ran around the vehicle and shot a few more rounds at him. After this, Cueva ran towards Jarrett in the front of the truck and killed him by shooting at the back of his head. See the distressing video here:
RELATED ARTICLES
Who was Darion Jarrett?
Darion Jarrett was a 28-year-old man, a father of three young children who was expecting a fourth.
The footage released by the police includes the video from Jarrett's body cam and that of the police car dashboard. The five-minute-long video features Jarrett walking up to a white Chevrolet pick-up truck. He then knocks on the glass and tells Cueva the reason for the stop is his dark-tinted windows. The video shows Jarrett looking calm as he chatted with Cueva for a few minutes. However, due to the rush of the wind and the moving traffic, the voice in the video is not too clear.
At one point, however, we can hear Jarrett ask Cueva in the video if he has a firearm. "Do you mind if I take it off you for my safety?" The driver's side of the truck is open when Jarrett is heard saying "hold on" and then he walks towards his police cruiser. On the other hand, we can see Cueva getting the rifle ready. The two men then walk on either side of the pick-up truck but suddenly Cueva snaps the rifle up and fires a shot at Jarrett who says "oh s**t".
Cueva then fled the scene and Jarrett's body was found by the Homeland Security Investigations.
How was Cueva caught?
Following this, a 40-mile chase began as officers from New Mexico State Police, the Cruces Police Department, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, and US Border Patrol pursued Cueva where gunfire was also exchanged, and the cops did manage to stop Cueva after blowing out his tires using a stinger. Despite being surrounded by cops, Cueva exited his vehicle and opened fire with a pistol. So there was a shootout with the police in which Cueva was killed.
Police officer Adrian De La Garza of Las Cruces was also hit by gunfire and was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Texas. Police also revealed that Cueva had a "violent criminal history" according to a report in The Sun, which also includes drug charges involving cocaine and meth.