A teen mother who was shot by a Long Beach, California school resource officer died after a week on life support. Some of her organs were donated to five people in need of transplants.
An 18-year-old mother was disconnected from life support after being shot by a California school resource officer
Manuela Rodriguez, 18, was shot by a Millikan High School security officer, Eddie F. Gonzalez, while driving in the passenger seat following a fight with an unidentified 15-year-old student on Sept. 27, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
Rodriguez’s heart, liver, lungs and two kidneys were donated to five people in need of organ transplants, his family told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
Gonzalez fired several shots at the car, violating school policy. He was unanimously dismissed Wednesday by the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education.
“You clearly saw areas where the employee violated district policy and did not meet our standards and expectations,” Superintendent Jill Baker said during a news conference Wednesday.
“We believe the decision to terminate this officer is justified, warranted and, frankly, the right thing to do.”
Rodriguez’s 20-year-old boyfriend, Rafeul Chowdhury, and his 16-year-old brother were also in the car, but were not hit.
“It was all for no reason,” Chowdhury, father of Rodriguez’s 5-month-old son, told reporters last week. “The way he shot us was not right.”
Rodriguez’s family has asked prosecutors to file charges against Gonzalez.
