Newly released footage shows the chilling moment a New Mexico cop is gunned down during a traffic stop.
The video from the dashcam of state police Officer Darrian Jarrott’s squad car shows the state cop approaching a Chevy pickup truck on Interstate-10 on Feb. 4 and questioning the driver, who was pulled over for having overly dark tinted windows.
During a peaceful exchange that lasts several minutes, the driver identifies himself as Omar Felix Cueva and admits he has a firearm in the vehicle, according to news reports.
“You mind if I take it off you for my safety?” Jarrott is heard asking Cueva, according to footage published online.
Jarrott, who was standing on the passenger’s side of the truck, then asks Cueva to follow him back to his squad car so he can run his name — when things turn deadly.
Cueva steps out of the pickup holding an AR-15-style rifle and opens fire.
“Oh s–t!” the cop is heard yelling before he falls to the ground.
Cueva, 39, sped off, leaving Jarrott on the side of the road, and led New Mexico cops on a 40-mile high-speed chase — before he was killed in a shootout with police.
State police said Cueva had “a violent criminal history,” and was en route to a drug deal when he was pulled over by Jarrott, a five-year veteran of the force, KVIA-TV said.
“Even when there was a situation that was tough, the guy was always smiling,” New Mexico State Police Chief Robert Thornton said of Jarrott after his death.
Another state cop was wounded and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.