Long Beach Unified fires safety officer who shot, killed 18-year-old woman in moving car

The Long Beach Unified School District has fired a schoolhouse assets serviceman who changeable and killed an 18-year-old pistillate successful a moving car aft breaking up a combat past week adjacent Millikan High School, officials announced Wednesday.

Ed F. Gonzalez was terminated pursuing a unanimous ballot by the district’s committee directors, Superintendent Jill Baker said.

He had been connected administrative permission soon aft shooting astatine a moving vehicle, striking 18-year-old Mona Rodriguez successful the head. Rodriguez aboriginal died.

“After our interior review, we intelligibly saw areas wherever the worker violated territory policy,” Baker said during a quality briefing Wednesday up of a scheduled committee meeting. The superintendent noted that the territory prohibits LBUSD unit from shooting astatine moving vehicles oregon done windows unless perfectly necessary.

She said Gonzalez’s actions did not conscionable policy, and that his firing was “the close happening to do.” She declined to remark connected the transgression probe into the shooting.

“The actions of 1 worker bash not correspond our thousands of employees who enactment each time to supply our students the champion acquisition possible,” Baker said.

Outside, dozens cheered arsenic connection of the schoolhouse assets officer’s firing was announced implicit societal media. Some successful the assemblage wore shirts bearing photos of the pistillate helium killed, and carried signs urging “Justice for Mona Rodriguez.”

Authorities person said that connected Sept., 27 Rodriguez was progressive successful a combat with a 15-year-old Millikan High School pupil adjacent Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue. Following the fight, Rodriguez, her boyfriend, Rafeul Chowdhury, and his 16-year-old member tried to fly successful a car, according to Chowdhury and Long Beach police.

A video of the incident, posted connected societal media, shows the schoolhouse information serviceman attack the car successful a adjacent portion promenade parking lot: As the grey sedan speeds away, the serviceman fires 2 shots. Rodriguez, a passenger, was struck successful the backmost of the head, household members person said. Chowdhury and his member were not injured.

She was declared encephalon dormant astatine the infirmary and placed connected beingness support. Rodriguez was the parent of a 5-month-old child.

Gonzalez was not a sworn serviceman during his employment with the Long Beach Unified School District, but had worked arsenic an serviceman with the Los Alamitos and Sierra Madre constabulary departments anterior to his hiring with the district, officials said.

He worked arsenic an serviceman with the Los Alamitos Police Department from Jan. 8 to April 8, 2019, said Chelsi Wilson, an administrative services manager for the city. No crushed was disclosed arsenic to wherefore helium near the Department.

He past worked with the Sierra Madre Police Department, Chief Rodrick Armalin said. Though his nonstop timeline of employment wasn’t instantly known, the department’s Facebook leafage included a September 2019 station with photos from his swearing-in ceremony. He was besides featured successful abstracted Department posts successful March and April 2020.

During an instauration astatine a February 2019 City Council meeting, Los Alamitos Police Chief Eric Nunez said Gonzalez was a U.S. Marine and had spent 24 years moving with Time Warner and Spectrum arsenic an maltreatment coordinator researcher until helium was laid off. Born successful Los Angeles, helium attended precocious schoolhouse successful Santa Ana and was a constabulary explorer successful Fullerton, Nunez said.

His uncle was a retired Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant, Nunez said.

He graduated from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s determination grooming academy arsenic a reserve lawman successful 2015 and 3 years later, helium was awarded the Reserve Deputy of the Year for North operations, Nunez said.

He had passed each inheritance checks anterior to his hiring connected Jan. 10, 2021, LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou said.

But schoolhouse information officers successful Long Beach are not expected to sprout astatine a moving vehicle, oregon done a model of a conveyance unless the circumstances warrant it arsenic a “final means of defense,” the district’s use-of-force argumentation states.

The shooting was the archetypal by an serviceman successful the district’s 30-year schoolhouse information program, Eftychiou said past week.

The Long Beach Police Department was continuing its probe into the shooting, spokesperson Richard Mejia said. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office was besides investigating the shooting.

Authorities person not disclosed whether a firearm was recovered wrong the victims’ car.