North Carolina cop found dead at home killed wife in murder-suicide: Officials

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) — A North Carolina police officer shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself, state authorities said Wednesday amid an investigation into their deaths.

Fayetteville police officers responded to the home of fellow officer Domingo Tavarez-Rodriguez on Friday when he didn’t report to work at 6 p.m., according to Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden.

“When he failed to report and his supervisors were unable to contact him by phone, that’s what prompted them to go by and check on him at his residence,” Braden told reporters during a press briefing.

Responding officers found Tavarez-Rodriguez, 53, and his wife, Yenitza Arroyo-Torres, 44, both dead with gunshot wounds inside their home in the River Glen subdivision, police said.

Braden said he requested the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to investigate their deaths, as the incident involves a Fayetteville officer.

The preliminary investigation “shows the couple died as the result of a murder-suicide,” the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Wednesday.

The preliminary autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office shows that the officer died from a single gunshot wound and his wife died as a result of “multiple gunshot wounds,” state authorities said.

“Based on the preliminary investigation and the medical examiner’s preliminary findings, there is no reason to believe anyone else was involved and there is no reason to believe there is a threat to the community or to law enforcement,” the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said.

No further information is being released amid the investigation, the agency said.

Tavarez-Rodriguez had been with the department since June 2021 and was a military veteran, Braden said.

ABC News has reached out to the Fayetteville Police Department for comment.

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