A Marysville, California, Police officer was shot and killed in an exchange of fire between a suspected drug trafficker and his SWAT team Wednesday morning, officials said.
The slain officer, 27-year-old Osmar Rodarte, was an operator with the Yuba Sutter Regional SWAT team.
Rodarte’s team was part of a multi-agency operation that served 20 search warrants Wednesday on what Yuba County District Attorney Clint Curry described as members of a transnational drug trafficking organization. Curry said the warrants were the culmination of a multi-year investigation into trafficking of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Officer Rodarte’s team served a warrant on a house in Olivehurst and made entry around 7:50 a.m. Inside, they exchanged fire with a suspect and Rodarte was critically wounded. He died at a local hospital, Yuba County Sheriff Wendell Anderson said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
Officials said the suspect was also killed in the gunfight, and another person in the house was detained as a witness.
Investigators from NET-5, the multiagency Yuba-Sutter Narcotics and Gang Task Force Unit, were leading the prolonged operation that targeted dozens of suspected dealers and netted fentanyl, hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and weapons, the Sacramento Bee reports.
DA Curry said the number of arrests and other information would be released later this week.
Marysville Police Chief Christian Sachs said Officer Rodarte was a two-year veteran of law enforcement and a U.S. Army veteran. The Sacramento Police Department said the slain officer was a graduate of their academy.
Officer Rodarte is survived by his wife and child.
"Our department is hurting, and our community is mourning the loss of a dedicated officer who served with honor, integrity, and unwavering commitment to protecting the people of Marysville," Marysville police said in a statement. "Officer Rodarte was more than a colleague. He was a friend, a father, an army veteran and a true hero."
