Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced on Wednesday, Oct. 27 that murder charges would be brought against Eddie Gonzalez, the former school resource officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez in the head near Millikan High School on Sept. 27.
“It was an unfortunate and unnecessary death that left a 6-month-old without a mother and a family without a daughter,” Gascon said during a press conference Oct. 27.
Gonzalez was arrested in the City of Orange several hours before the press conference and is being kept at Long Beach City Jail in lieu of $2 million bail, according to Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna.
“Since the day of the shooting, our homicide detectives have been speaking to witnesses, canvassing the area, and reviewing video footage of this incident,” Luna said.
According to LBPD, Gonzalez was patrolling the area around Millikan High School in Long Beach on Oct. 27 when he saw Rodriguez and a 15-year-old female student of the school fighting in the street.
Once Gonzalez arrived, Rodriguez attempted to flee the scene in a vehicle that was also occupied by a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy.
When Rodriguez, the man and the boy attempted to leave the scene in the vehicle, Gonzalez approached the car and fired into the vehicle as the driver was pulling away, striking Rodriguez, who was in the front passenger seat, police said.
Gonzalez was fired by the Long Beach Unified School District on Oct. 6.
“The use-of-force policy used by our school safety office states officers shall not fire at a fleeing person, shall not fire at a moving vehicle and shall not fire through a vehicle window unless circumstances clearly warrant the use of a firearm as a final means of defense,” LBUSD Superintendent Jill Baker said at the time. “Again, based on our review, we believe our internal policy was violated.”
Rodriguez died of her wounds on Tuesday, Oct. 5, after the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center took her off life support, according to family members’ public statements.
“We deeply send our condolences to the Rodriguez family for this loss,” Luna said.
It is unclear whether Gonzalez is the first school safety officer to be charged with murder. Gascon said prosecutors were not able to find any other school safety officers who had faced a murder count, but added, “That’s not to say that it hasn’t occurred before.”
