An 18-year-old California woman was scheduled to be taken off of life support over the weekend after a school resource officer shot her in reported violation of the district’s use of force policy. Manuela “Mona” Rodriguez, a new mother, was not enrolled at the Millikan High School campus she was shot near, and the school resource officer, who is employed by the Long Beach Unified School District, does not work for any police department, CNN reported. 

Chris Eftychiou, a spokesman for the Long Beach Unified School District, told CNN in a statement that the officer was responding to an “off-campus” incident last Monday when he spotted a fight between an 18-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl. He watched Rodriguez and two other people try to flee in a car and fired as it sped off. Rodriguez was the front-seat passenger in the car. Her partner drove the vehicle, and his 16-year-old brother was also a passenger in the car, CNN reported.

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“According to a use-of-force policy from Long Beach Unified’s school safety office, officers are not permitted to fire at a moving vehicle,” Los Angeles Times writers Richard Winton and Hayley Smith wrote. “Firearms may be discharged only when reasonably necessary and justified under the circumstances, such as self-defense and the protection of others, the policy states. The policy also bars shooting at fleeing suspects.”

Iran Rodriguez, Manuela’s older brother, called for the officer, whose name has not been released, to be prosecuted. Iran spoke at a news conference for the family to announce the devastating news of Manuela’s state on Friday. “I raised that little girl,” he said. “The officer needs to be charged.”

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Luis Carrillo, the Rodriguez family attorney, wrote in a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta that Manuela did not pose an imminent threat and the officer’s use of force was unjustified. “This officer had no business carrying a badge and gun,” Carrillo said at the news conference. “She was no imminent threat when this criminal officer went boom!”

Witness video of the incident obtained by CNN showed the officer walking up to the vehicle carrying Manuela and pointing a gun at the passenger’s side. The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the result of an investigation, Eftychiou told the news network. 

Long Beach City Mayor Robert Garcia said in a tweet on Thursday: “The city is heartbroken over the horrific and tragic shooting of Mona Rodriguez by a Long Beach School District safety officer. We are praying for her family. While the officer was not a city employee, we are working with the LA County DA to investigate.”

Warning: This video contains profanity, violence, and triggering footage of an officer-involved shooting.

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