Students at Hofstra University wore white ribbons at their graduation ceremony today to honor a fellow student who was accidentally killed by a police officer responding to a home invasion call.
Andrea Rebello, a 21-year-old Hofstra University junior, was killed Friday when police confronted an armed intruder at the off-campus rental house she shared with her twin sister and two other students on Long Island, N.Y.
The suspect, Dalton Smith, 30, entered the home when someone went outside to move a car around 2 a.m. on Friday, according to police.
Smith was apparently unsatisfied with the valuables in the home and sent one of the Rebello’s roommates to an ATM, said Detective Lt. John Azzata of the Nassau County Police Department.
“He said if she wasn’t back in eight minutes, he’d kill one of the individuals in the house,” Azzata said.
The roommate called 911, Azzata said, and two officers were dispatched to the scene.
An officer entered the two-story home and found Smith holding Rebello in a headlock at gunpoint, Azzata said. When the suspect pointed the gun at the officer, he said the two exchanged fire.
“The officer eventually fired eight rounds in total,” Azzata said. “Seven of those rounds struck our subject, one of those rounds struck the victim.”
Rebello and Smith were both pronounced dead.
h/t – ABCNEWS
