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A California teenager is brain dead and on life support after being shot by a school security guard, her family say – and they want the officer to be held accountable.
“I want justice for my daughter, my little mother, the love of my life,” Rodriguez’s boyfriend Rafeul Chowdhury said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Mona Rodriguez, 18, was shot dead Monday afternoon while in a vehicle near Millikan High School in Long Beach. Police say she was shot in the upper body. Her family insist she was shot in the head.
Shortly after 3 p.m. that day, an unnamed officer from the Long Beach Unified School District was driving in the area when he came across a physical argument between Rodriguez and a 15-year-old girl leaving school. Rodriguez is not currently a student at Millikan, authorities said.
The brawl allegedly started when Rodriguez got out of a gray sedan near a nearby shopping center and confronted the girl, according to a student who witnessed the incident. It was at this point that the officer, whom Long Beach school officials said in a statement “was driving a safe passage for students” leaving the Millikan campus, arrived at the scene. The officer reportedly threatened to spray pepper on the two, who then stopped fighting and walked away, according to Chowdhury. But when Rodriguez got back into the car, things suddenly took a turn.
Posted video of the incident shows the officer approaching the passenger side door of the gray sedan after the brawl is over. As the car begins to pull away, the officer appears to fire two shots at the fleeing vehicle. Rodriguez was seated in the front passenger seat, police said.
“Holy shit! a spectator shouts.
“While the motive for the assault is still being investigated, detectives believe the suspect and victim know each other, and the 18-year-old adult suspect initiated the assault,” the Department said. Long Beach police in a statement provided to The Beast of the Day.
Luis Carrillo, a lawyer representing the Rodriguez family, said the focus should be on the officer who shot the 18-year-old as she walked away.
“The first priority is to get the guy arrested and get him off the streets,” Carrillo told The Daily Beast. “He has no business wearing a badge or carrying a gun.”
Carrillo said he sent a letter to the California attorney general to investigate the shooting “because we believe he should be arrested for murder or manslaughter.”
“This officer had no justification for using lethal force against Ms. Rodriguez because Ms. Rodriguez did not pose an imminent threat to the officer when she was shot by the officer,” said the letter, which Carrillo provided. a copy at The Daily Beast. “The actions of this officer constitute a serious violation of the constitutional rights of the state and the federal government. “
The hospital plans to disconnect Rodriguez from life support on Thursday afternoon, Carrillo said. But although doctors say Rodriguez shows no signs of brain activity, her family doesn’t want the hospital to unplug the machines that keep her alive. A cousin told the Long Beach Post that Rodriguez, her boyfriend and their 5-month-old son were moving to Kansas so the child could grow up in a better place. “She was intelligent, beautiful, loving and everyone who knew her knew how big her heart was, how full of life she was and how much she loved her family but especially her son who was her whole life, her pride and joy, ”said another one of Rodriguez’s cousins wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for medical expenses.
In an open letter to parents, Long Beach Unified School District superintendent Jill Baker said Tuesday: Some all-time low. One of those dips occurred yesterday afternoon when an LBUSD School security guard discharged his duty gun as he responded to an altercation at the corner of Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue. This incident had a tremendous impact on the community of our school district and we collectively think of the gunshot victim. “
Long Beach School security guards are armed, but not licensed peace officers like regular cops. Their official job description includes patrolling school sites “and adjacent areas to ensure the safety and protection of students, staff, equipment and property; ensure compliance with applicable laws, codes, rules and regulations.
Carrillo, the lawyer for the Rodriguez family, wants the officer who allegedly shot Rodriguez to be prosecuted. The family also plans to sue the school district. The officer involved has been placed on leave.
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