Napa County investigators Thursday were trying to learn more about a marijuana garden raid near Lake Berryessa that resulted in the shooting death of one of two suspects encountered there, authorities said.
Jose Luis Martinez Chavez, 38, of Fresno was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon after members of a multi-agency drug task force hiked into pot-growing sites at the north end of the lake, the Napa County Sheriff's Office said.
Four agents with the Napa Special Investigations Bureau encountered Chavez and 21-year-old Oswaldo Rivera of Fresno as they entered a marijuana garden, sheriff's Capt. Tracey Stuart said.
Rivera ran and was arrested after a short chase.
Chavez was armed with a handgun, Stuart said. Officer Pete Piersig of the Napa Police Department and Napa County Deputy Jeremiah Bohlander fired their weapons during the confrontation, Stuart said.
It was not clear if the suspects fired weapons, Stuart said.
"They are just finishing interviews with the officers, I haven't been briefed yet," Stuart said late Thursday.
An autopsy was scheduled for this morning, she said. Both agents have been with their agencies for about five years. They were placed on paid leave, which is standard procedure in a shooting.
The 12:50 p.m. shooting followed by less than 24 hours an incident in Mendocino County in which someone shot out a window in a Mendocino County deputy's truck as he was leaving a pot garden raid with other members of the county Marijuana Eradication Team and the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.
No one was injured in that incident, which occurred a few miles down a dirt road off Orr Springs Road, east of Mendocino, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249
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