Authorities: Hofstra student was killed by police

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a police officer's bullet killed a New York college student during the response to a home invasion at an off-campus home.

Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said Saturday night that Andrea Rebello was killed by a police officer as she was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder.

Azzata says the police officer opened fire as Dalton Smith made a motion to fire at the officers early Saturday morning.

Azzata says the officer fired eight shots, hitting Smith seven times and Rebello once in the head, killing her.

Earlier Saturday, police said Smith had an extensive criminal history and was wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction.

www.chron.com...

A hostage is being held in a head lock and an officer fires 8 shots. What kind of procedures were in place for this one. Why were the police in a position to be shot upon when a hostage is involved.

Unbelievable.

reply to post by roadgravel


Wow, it sounds to me like this officer freaked out. Eight shots? I thought they trained for this kind of thing. I might be wrong on that training, but if they don't (train) they should.

With every town now having swat, snipers and who knows what else, it would seem the wrong officer was there.

How are they going to justify this one.

It's unfortunate...but the Officer did what he had to do.

What would you have him do? Get shot?

Originally posted by Signals
It's unfortunate...but the Officer did what he had to do.

What would you have him do? Get shot?

How about not putting yourself in that position which endangers yourself and the hostage.

I just commented on this on FB.

This is horrible! EIGHT TIMES! Isn't that a bit much?! Aren't cops trained for situations like this? He went overboard with the shots. He should be trained to shoot and disable a perp not overkill shoot and kill the hostage in the process.


This is just tragic and she didn't have to die.

reply to post by Signals


This is unpleasant to say, but in most cases I pretty much do expect him to get shot before he risks shooting the victim. It is tragic when an officer is shot, but it is also a part of the job. Tragic, but honorable.

That said, it is hard for me to second-guess the officer here because that sounds like an extremely high-stress scenario and he is only human. It could have happened very quickly, and the officer may not have been aware that the victim was in the line of fire. It will be interesting to hear the witness testimony about what happened. Even if the officer was clearly in the wrong I feel for him, because I doubt he felt good about shooting the victim. Hindsight is 20/20.

Recordings of police communications paint a picture of a chaotic and frightening scene. In one conversation, officers can be heard saying that the suspect was pointing a gun at the head of one of the hostages.

www.nytimes.com...

Originally posted by Signals
It's unfortunate...but the Officer did what he had to do.

What would you have him do? Get shot?

You can't control every shot even as a expert pistol person. I've seen Coast Guard gunnery techs hit smokeless tobacco cans with one shot at the end of the range. But that's one shot and taking lots of time. And that is without the apprehension of having someone fire back.

That's what snipers are for. But who even knows if they had time to deploy a sniper in this situation.

Originally posted by Signals
It's unfortunate...but the Officer did what he had to do.

What would you have him do? Get shot?

Situation : Man holding a hostage, might harm or worse, kill her.
Solution : Police attend and get fired on.
Result : Hostage shot by police.

I see a problem here. And if it's a 'doing his job' problem, then it's a problem none the less.

Oh this is easy math, and quite understandable.

1 innocent civilian hostage + 1 bad guy will always = 2 dead people should the responding cops life become endangered.

Remember people, once a person becomes a cop, their life is more important than yours as a civilian.

It was a win, win situation for him.

He probably got a certificate and bonus for the superb double kill.

Definitely called for high fives.

Police are taught that the only important thing is to go home alive at the end of shift. If an innocent person is killed it's not the cops fault. It's the suspects fault. They are not here to protct us. They are here to protect the "system". I think were better off taking care of ourselves!

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

I still think it could have been handled in a better manner. Since the officer was an ex NY finest, I guess he had no choice but to end it in this manner.