Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

School Safety Officer Terminated Following Student Death

  • By Matt Jones
  • 10/14/21

A Long Beach, Calif., school safety officer has been fired after discharging his firearm in an incident that left an 18-year-old mother brain-dead. According to bystander video and news sources, on Monday, Sept. 27, former officer Eddie F. Gonzalez fired two shots at a car leaving a parking lot following a verbal altercation between teenagers. One of the bullets struck Mona Rodriguez, 18, in the head. Rodriguez’s family pulled her off life support on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

On Wednesday, Oct. 6, the Long Beach Unified School District’s school board voted unanimously to terminate Gonzalez. News sources report that Gonzalez had been hired in January after short tenures at several different police departments. The official cause of termination was violation the district’s use-of-force policy. A district spokesperson also confirmed that Rodriguez was not an LBUSD student at the time of the incident, but she had been previously.

The Long Beach Police Department has also opened a homicide investigation, as Gonzalez was an employee of the school district instead of the city. Police will send the results of their investigation to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, which will decide what charges (if any) to bring against Gonzalez.

A crowd of dozens gathered outside the school board meeting on Wednesday evening, many attendees supporting removing officers from schools and calling for more training in de-escalating situations. “I hope my sister gets the justice that she deserves,” said Oscar Rodriguez, 23, the victim’s older brother. “This can happen to any other family next.”

According to The Washington Post, the district’s use of force policy permits officers to fire their weapons only in self-defense or to prevent death or “great bodily injury” of another. It also explicitly forbids officers to fire at someone who is feeling, toward a moving vehicle or through a vehicle window, unless the circumstances “clearly warrant the use of a firearm as a final means of defense.”

“We clearly saw areas where this employee violated District policy and did not meet our expectations,” said Jill Baker, Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent. “We believe the decision to terminate this officer’s employment is warranted, justified and—quite frankly—the right thing to do.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning and Campus Security and Life Safety. He can be reached at [email protected]

Featured

  • Chicago District Completes Construction on New Elementary School

    North Chicago School District 187 in North Chicago, Ill., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Forrestal Elementary School, according to a news release. The new school marks a major investment in military-connected students and families at Naval Station Great Lakes.

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.