Merced officers involved in traffic stop shooting identified

The Merced Police Department on Friday identified the three officers involved in the gun battle Feb. 28 that left one of them injured.

Officer Ryan Rasmussen was shot on H Street during a traffic stop, police said.

He was treated and released from a Fresno hospital and is recovering. He has been a police officer in Merced for nine years, officials said.

The officers who police said returned fire during the gunfight were Officer Brian Rinder, an eight-year veteran of the department, and Officer Joseph Opinski, who has been on the force for one year, Capt. Bimley West said.

Both Rinder and Opinski are expected to return to duty next week. They were placed on paid administrative leave after the incident, which is standard procedure in all officer-involved shootings, police said.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the shooting, Jaime Caudillo, the alleged shooter, and Steven P. Rincon, the man police said drove the vehicle the night of the incident.

In a news release Friday, Capt. Tom Trindad said the department delayed releasing the names so it could conduct “a threat assessment to determine if the release of the officers’ names would put them and/or their families at risk.”

“The department’s concern was based upon recent events across the (country) and because the suspects in this case were gang related,” police said in the statement. “The department determined that the threat was general with no specific target.”

The Merced County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the officer-involved shooting portion of the incident, which is protocol in such cases. Pat Lunney, chief of investigations at the district attorney’s office, said detectives were still looking into the case and reviewing reports, but he hoped to have the investigation completed sometime next week.

Caudillo and Rincon remain in custody at John Latorraca Correctional Facility. Caudillo is being held without bail. Rincon’s bail is set at $670,000, according to booking records.

Both men are due back in court Monday for arraignment.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Merced officers involved in traffic stop shooting identified."