DA: Trooper Justified In Shooting Drug Suspect From Orange

A veteran state trooper was justified in shooting a drug suspect from Orange who pointed a rifle at him and refused to drop it, the Northwestern district attorney's office said Thursday.

Corey Navarette, 23, was fatally shot at his Orange apartment early on July 3 as a drug task force was executing a search warrant in an investigation of illegal sales of prescription painkillers.

The prosecutors' report said Trooper Michael Baker acted to defend himself and other troopers after Navaratte twice refused to put down his gun. Baker fired three times, and two shots hit Navarette. The report said it was the first time in a 20-year career Baker had fired his weapon on duty apart from training.

Prosecutors said besides the semi-automatic rifle, Navarette had a semi-automatic pistol, both of which he legally owned. They said police also found more than 150 tablets, most of which were oxycodone and more than $4,000 in cash, in a backpack in the bedroom where they encountered Navarette.