Holly MatkinGuadalupe County, NM – New Mexico State Police (NMSP) Officer Omar Carrasco died unexpectedly of natural causes while off-duty on July 18.
Police responded to the 24-year-old officer’s home on the evening of July 18 after he failed to show up for his scheduled shift, the NMSP said in a press release the following day.
Attempts to reach him by phone had also been unsuccessful.
Officers arrived to find Officer Carrasco’s patrol vehicle parked outside his house, the NMSP said.
They knocked on the door and received no answer, so they ultimately forced entry.
“Officer Carrasco was located inside the residence deceased,” the NMSP said. “His body did not have any obvious signs of foul play.”
The Office of the Medical Investigator later concluded Officer Carrasco died of natural causes, according to the Los Alamos Reporter.
His exact cause of death was not immediately released.
The El Paso native had just graduated from the NMSP’s 99th Recruit School on June 10.
He was subsequently assigned to the agency’s Uniform Bureau in Santa Rosa.
Officer Carrasco leaves behind his father, brother, grandmother, and many other family members, the NMSP said.
He is also survived by his “brother and sisters of the New Mexico State Police,” the agency added.
A law enforcement procession escorted the young officer’s body from Albuquerque to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, on July 20, the NMSP said in a Facebook post.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out to show their support during this time,” the state police said.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of New Mexico State Police Officer Omar Carrasco, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.
Rest easy, hero. We’ll hold the line from here.
Sandy Malone
