Police Officer Andres Laza-Caraballo

March 21, 2018

Police Officer Andres Laza-Caraballo was shot and killed while intervening in a shooting incident while off duty at approximately 1:30 pm.

He was patronizing a barber shop on Calle Emilia Príncipe when several men started smoking marijuana in front of it. When the shop owner asked the men to leave he was attacked. Officer Laza-Caraballo identified himself as an officer and attempted to intervene when several of the subjects entered with rifles and opened fire.

Officer Laza-Caraballo was able to return fire, killing one of the men and wounding a second one before being fatally shot. The remaining two subjects fled the scene and remain at large. Three of the men, including the two who Officer Laza-Caraballo shot, were brothers.

Officer Laza-Caraballo had served with the Juncos Municipal Police Department for 10 years. He is survived by his two children.