Family renews calls for DA to criminally charge Long Beach school officer who shot young mom

Tuesday, October 5, 2021
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of an 18-year-old mother left brain dead after being shot by a Long Beach school safety officer renewed their calls for the Los Angeles County District Attorney to file murder charges against the officer.

People gathered Tuesday morning outside George Gascon's office in downtown Los Angeles, seeking justice for Mona Rodriguez.
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The mother of a 5-month-old was in the passenger seat of a car that sped away from an altercation when she was shot by the school safety officer last week.

The school safety officer approached the car and fired into the vehicle as the driver was pulling away, striking an unarmed Rodriguez inside. Cellphone video from the scene shows the officer open fire.

Woman injured in shooting by school safety officer near Millikan High School in Long Beach


At a press conference Tuesday, Iran Rodriguez, the woman's oldest brother, recounted conversations he had with her surgeons and medical scans that he was shown.



"I was told that the bullet used was a hollow-type point bullet...on impact, it exploded inside her brain and shards of metal bounced inside her head," he said.

"She's been dead from the first day she was shot. We just kept her artificially alive."
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Rodriguez's family says she will be pulled off life support later this week and her organs will be donated.

18-year-old woman shot by school officer to be taken off life support


The officer has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation by the District Attorney's office and the Long Beach Police Department.

"This school safety officer decided he was going to be the judge, jury and the executioner," said the woman's other brother, Omar Rodriguez.

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