April 17, 2023 Authorities surrounded a home in Ontario and apprehended a 36-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed reserve Nyssa Police Officer Joseph Johnson.
By Austin De Dios Source oregonlive.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The man accused of shooting and killing a reserve police officer in Nyssa was arrested Monday morning.
Rene Castro, 36, was found in Ontario, Oregon, the Malheur County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.
Local law enforcement, joined by the FBI, surrounded a home in Ontario at 6:40 a.m. Castro was taken into custody an hour later, the DA’s office said.
Nyssa officer Joseph Johnson was responding to reports of a violent person damaging property and threatening people in Nyssa on Saturday evening. Johnson, 43, arrived at the scene and heard the suspect left in a car.
He pursued the suspect, and both cars stopped at the corner of Locust Avenue and North 3rd Street. As soon as Johnson stopped, the suspect started shooting at him, the DA’s office said. The shooter fled the scene.
Emergency medical workers and Malheur sheriff’s office found Johnson dead when they arrived. He had served as a reserve officer in Nyssa since 2018 and worked as a behavioral health specialist at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, the Malheur Enterprise reported.
No one was injured during Castro’s arrest, the DA’s office said.