Fayetteville police chief: Job not a factor in shooting deaths of officer and his wife
Editor's note: This is an updated version of the original story.
Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden on Saturday evening said he does not believe Officer Domingo Tavarez-Rodriguez and his wife, Yenitza Arroyo-Tavarez, were killed because he was an officer.
“I don't have any fear that officers are being targeted right now,” Braden said.
He said he also did not know yet the circumstances of the deaths — whether a third party was involved or if this was a murder-suicide.
In a brief news conference late Friday, Braden announced that police officer Tavarez-Rodriguez, 53, and his wife, were found dead in their home in the 1300 block of Vandenberg Drive about 6 p.m.
He said the discovery was made by Police Department supervisors when the retired Army soldier failed to show up to work after his regular days off.
“When he failed to report and the supervisors were unable to contact him by phone, that’s what prompted them to go by and check on him at his residence,” the chief said Friday.
Each had gunshot wounds, Braden said.
On Saturday morning. the East Fayetteville neighborhood where the couple lived was quiet — a sharp contrast to the tragedy that unfolded there hours earlier
The couple's two-story home is in the River Glen neighborhood, a collection of single-family homes and neatly kept yards off River Road. Neighbors on Saturday said they did not know Tavarez-Rodriguez and his wife and only learned of what happened in the news.
Braden said Tavarez-Rodriguez joined the Police Department in 2021, Braden said. County records show he'd purchased the River Glen home in 2017 and the couple, still newlyweds, were married on Oct. 13, 2022.
Related: Chief Braden: Fayetteville police officer, wife found dead in their home
Condolences pour forth online
Family and friends shared their grief on social media Saturday.
“This is so unreal,” one woman wrote. “RIP Yenitza.”
A man commented that he had been on a military deployment with Tavarez-Rodriguez and when the two saw each other several weeks ago, the officer "seemed happy."
While another person also spoke of his experience with Tavarez-Rodriguez in the military.
“Mingo was a great NCO and awesome cop,” he said, using the common abbreviation for non-commissioned officer. “This is awful.”
"My beautiful cousin," one woman wrote, "Jenny we love you always RIP."
Attempts to contact the family were unsuccessful.
A spokeswoman for the SBI said no further details were available.
Public safety reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville deaths of police officer and wife under investigation
