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Suspect in shooting of Auburn police officer has died – Metro US

Suspect in shooting of Auburn police officer has died

The search for the gunman who killed a Massachusetts police officer came to an end on Sunday when the suspect died in a shootout with police.

The suspect, 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano, of Worcester, had been sought by police for the killing of 42-year-old Ronald Tarentino, Jr., an Auburn police officer and a father of three who was shot dead after an early morning traffic stop in the town south of Worcester.

A state trooper was wounded in the crossfire inside an apartment in Oxford, police said in an evening news conference, but the trooper’s injuries were not life-threatening. He was not identified.

Earlier in the day, Tarentino’s fellow officers mourned.

“The Auburn police, the town of Auburn and the law enforcement community has suffered a tragic loss this morning,” Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis said in an afternoon news conference. “We are devastated for his family.”

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Neighbors in Auburn told reporters they heard several shots in the early morning, according toa report from MassLive.

“I heard rapid fire gunshots and then I heard somebody yell, ‘Get down’,” neighbor Phil Berthiaume told the news site.

Tarentino was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center, police said. His body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Boston Sunday morning, accompanied by a procession of police cruisers. Officers in the city lined the streets and stood at attention for a somber salute to the fallen first-responder.

The body has since been taken to a funeral home in Leicester.

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Throughout the day on Sunday, police departments took to social media to offer their condolences.

Meanwhile, a flag at the headquarters of the Auburn Police Department flew at half-staff, and mourners dropped flowers and candles at a memorial for fallen police officers at the station.

Note: This article has been updated to remove identifying information about the suspect in the case. Police have also asked that a “be on the lookout” or “BOLO” notice that appeared online Sunday and contained an image of the suspect and his car not be shared via social media. A link to that notice has also been removed from this article.