The New York Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of Haley Rodriguez by a Gates police officer early Sunday on Spencerport Road. The office said the officer fired after Rodriguez appeared to point what looked like a handgun at him; investigators later recovered an imitation handgun.
The Office of Special Investigation’s announcement says the officer was driving a marked patrol vehicle at about 1 a.m. Oct. 4 when he saw Rodriguez walking in the roadway in Gates, Monroe County. The officer activated his vehicle’s flashing lights, stopped and got out.
According to the attorney general’s preliminary account, Rodriguez was holding what appeared to be a handgun. The officer asked her to put it down and talk with him. The office says she then appeared to point it at him, and he fired his service weapon, striking her.
Rodriguez was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The attorney general’s office said an imitation handgun was recovered at the scene. It did not identify the officer or provide additional detail about the object in Wednesday’s announcement.
State law requires the Office of Special Investigation to assess incidents in which a police or peace officer may have caused a person’s death, whether the person was armed or unarmed and whether the officer was on or off duty. The office conducts a full investigation when that assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death.
The attorney general’s office said the facts released so far are preliminary and could change. It did not give a timeline for the investigation’s findings.
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