Long Beach School Safety Officer Who Shot California Teen Mom in the Head Charged With Murder
Police line tape surrounds an apartment building where seven people were found dead at Lincoln Vineyard Apartment Homes on December 25, 2011 in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

A Long Beach school safety officer is now being charged with murder after fatally shooting an 18-year-old girl last month, California officials announced Wednesday.

In a press conference, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Eddie Gonzalez was charged with one count of murder for the death of Manuela "Mona" Rodriguez.

California authorities had filed murder charges against the former school safety officer who fatally shot an unarmed teen. The Guardian reported that it was a rare prosecution for an on-duty killing by an officer.

Long Beach School Safety Officer Fatally Shoots California Teen Mom

According to KTLA, the shooting incident happened on September 27 in the area of Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue, near Millikan High School.

Mona Rodriguez, who had a five-month-old boy, was brain dead and placed on life support after Eddie Gonzalez shot her in the back of her head. Despite the medical treatment, the California teen mom died eight days after being shot.

The Shooting Incident that Killed the California Teen Mom

Early this month, the Long Beach police said they had opened a homicide investigation into Mona Rodriguez's death.

According to the police department's preliminary investigation, Rodriguez got involved in a fight with a 15-year-old girl on the day she was shot. A witness said the fight broke out when the California teen mom got out of a car and confronted the younger girl in the street near the school.

While driving and patrolling in the area, the 51-year-old safety officer from the Long Beach Unified School District happened to see the physical dispute between Rodriguez and the girl, who was walking from the school.

Gonzalez then threatened to use pepper spray on the two teenagers, who immediately stopped fighting and walked away. However, things took a sudden turn when the California teen mom got back in the car with her 16-year-old brother and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Rafeul Chowdhury.

A video seemed to show the school safety officer firing two shots at the car, which nearly hit him as the vehicle began to speed away from the parking lot.

Police said Rodriguez, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was the only person injured in the shooting. She was rushed to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center after she was shot.

Chowdhury has said that Gonzalez did warn Rodriguez and the other teen girl that he would use pepper spray if they would not stop fighting, which they did. But Chowdhury noted that Gonzalez did not give any other warnings before the shooting and "never told us to stop anytime soon."

The California teen mom was taken off life support on October 5, following surgery to remove some of her organs, which would be donated to save the lives of five other individuals.

Gonzalez was placed on administrative leave while the tragic incident was being investigated. He was later fired as a result of a vote held during a closed school board meeting on October 6.

The district attorney's office said Eddie Gonzalez was being held at the Long Beach city jail on a $2 million bail and was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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