Long Beach PD now investigating death of 18-year-old mom shot by school safety officer as homicide
This comes after the Long Beach Unified School District voted unanimously to fire the school safety officer.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Detectives with the Long Beach Police Department are now investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman who was shot by a school safety officer as a homicide.
On the afternoon of Sept. 27, Mona Rodriguez, the mother of a 5-month-old son, was shot in the head by Officer Eddie F. Gonzalez while she was in a moving vehicle in a parking lot near Millikan High School.
Video by witnesses captured the shooting.
RELATED: Mother, 18, dies after being shot by Long Beach school officer
Investigators say Rodriguez was seen involved in a fight before the officer opened fire. She died Tuesday afternoon after being on life support since the shooting.
On Wednesday, the Long Beach Unified School District voted unanimously to fire Gonzalez.
"After our internal review, we clearly saw areas where the employee violated district policy and did not meet our standards and expectations," Superintendent Jill Baker. "We believe the decision to terminate this officer's employment is warranted, justified, and quite frankly, the right thing to do."
Rodriguez's friends and family say she was unarmed and are calling for murder charges brought against the officer.
Long Beach police and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office are investigating.
Prior to the firing, the officer had already been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation by the District Attorney's Office and the Long Beach Police Department.
A large number of protesters turned up at the school board meeting in support of Rodriguez's family Wednesday.
LBPD homicide detectives say they're in regular communication with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and are providing evidence from the ongoing investigation to them for filing consideration.
