School officer fired after fatal shooting of 18-year-old mom, California district says

A Long Beach school safety officer who opened fire on a moving car, fatally injuring an 18-year-old mother, has been fired, California school district officials say.

The Long Beach Unified School District board voted unanimously Wednesday to fire the officer for violating its use-of-force policies, which among other things forbid firing on moving vehicles, KABC reported.

“We believe the decision to terminate this officer’s employment is warranted, justified, and quite frankly, the right thing to do,” Superintendent Jill Baker said at a news briefing.

Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez was shot on Sept. 27 and died Tuesday after being taken off life support, KTTV reported. Her organs were donated to five people.

Rodriguez was the mother of a 5-month-old son, according to the station.

“I want justice for my girl, my baby momma, the love of my life,” boyfriend Rafeul Chowdhury said outside the hospital last week, KTTV reported.

Long Beach police on Thursday announced they have opened a homicide investigation into Rodriguez’s death.

The school safety officer had seen Rodriguez fighting with a 15-year-old girl about 3 p.m. Sept. 27 near Millikan High School, a police news release said.

The officer broke up the fight and several people, including Rodriguez, drove off in a four-door sedan, police said. The officer opened fire, hitting Rodriguez in the front passenger seat.

Long Beach police ask that anyone with information on the incident call detectives Ethan Shear or Jose Rodriguez at 562-570-7244.

This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 1:55 PM with the headline "School officer fired after fatal shooting of 18-year-old mom, California district says."