Footage released of shooting that killed Officer Osmar Rodarte during drug bust
By Kayla Moeller
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YUBA COUNTY, California (KMAX, KOVR) — The Yuba County District Attorney’s Office held an emotional and tense press conference on Tuesday, sharing body cam footage from the moments leading up to Marysville Police Officer Osmar Rodarte’s death six months ago.
Rodarte was shot and killed on Kestrel Court in Olivehurst during a transnational drug trafficking bust in March. He was the first Marysville officer killed in the line of duty in more than a hundred years.
“Osmar is a hero. His last act was doing the right thing, protecting his buddy,” Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum said.
In the body cam footage, you can hear Rodarte calling out to his fellow officer as he goes to cover an open area of the room where they found drug trafficker Rick Oliver hiding out. Moments later, gunfire erupted.
“I got your back” was one of the last things Rodarte said before he was killed.
“Officer Rodarte spun around right where he was. Sgt. Trumm stepped to the left and Sgt. Trumm, when he was interviewed, said he saw the flash from Oliver’s firearm before he fired,” District Attorney Clint Curry said.
Oliver’s autopsy report shows that at the time of the incident, he was extremely high on methamphetamine. So high, Curry said Oliver initially thought it was a typo when he read the numbers.
“More than I’ve ever seen in my career on someone that’s not already dead from methamphetamine intoxication,” Curry said.
The investigation found that 10 shots were fired between the two officers. Oliver was struck seven times and died within seconds.
Curry said that Oliver fired a single round, which hit just below Rodarte’s vest, ultimately killing him.
“Osmar had a wife, two little boys, 7 and 6,” Curry said. “Obviously, he had more family than that and a law enforcement family, and there are a lot of people struggling with the should of and the could of.”
The investigation found the officers couldn’t see Oliver holding the revolver when they entered the room because he was standing behind stacked storage bins.
“The biggest takeaway [is that] Sgt. Trumm, Osmar Rodarte and their team, they did what we trained them to do that day,” Curry said. “They’re heroes.”
The investigation determined that Rodarte and Trumm acted in self-defense.
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