Officer Ronald Tarentino —Massachusetts State Police

The suspect who police say fatally shot an Auburn police officer was killed Sunday evening in a clash with police in an Oxford apartment, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said at a press conference.

Jorge Zambrano, 35, allegedly shot officer Ronald Tarentino, 42, around 12:30 a.m. Sunday during a traffic stop in Auburn.

On Sunday evening, as state police were searching an Oxford apartment where they believed the suspect was located, a closet door “burst open” and Zambrano came out firing, according to Massachusetts State Police Colonel Richard McKeon.

“He was lying in ambush waiting for them,” Early added.

The troopers, one of whom was shot in the shoulder by Zambrano, returned fire, McKeon said.


Zambrano and the injured trooper were transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center. Zambrano was pronounced dead at the hospital, McKeon said. The trooper, an 18-year veteran on the force and a former Navy SEAL, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

Police surrounded the duplex at 31-33 Watch St. in Oxford and searched and cleared the No. 31 unit, using tear gas and K-9s, before spotting a passage to No. 33 in the cellar, McKeon said. After clearing the first floor of that unit, troopers encountered Zambrano, who was alone in a second-floor bedroom, he said.

The vehicle involved in the traffic stop was parked behind the duplex, officials said.

McKeon said the investigation into Tarentino’s homicide will continue.

Tarentino leaves behind a wife and three children, Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis said at a press conference earlier Sunday. Tarentino had been with the department for two years.

“He was an outstanding guy, and we’re going to miss him quite an awful lot,” Sluckis said.

Jorge Zambrano —AP

Zambrano had a lengthy criminal record involving clashes with police, according to court records previously published by the Worcester Telegram.

In April, he was charged with assault and battery of a police officer, resisting arrest, and driving with a suspended license.


In 2014, Zambrano was charged with driving with a suspended license, failing to stop for police, and carrying a dangerous weapon. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, two counts of resisting arrest, as well as a gun charge involving a firearm silencer. In 2011, while serving his 2 1/2-year sentence in the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction, he was sentenced to an additional seven years for trafficking and possession of cocaine, according to the Worcester Telegram.