Friends and family of Mona Rodriguez gather for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, to honor Mona Rodriguez, an 18-year-old mother who has been hospitalized since she was shot by a Long Beach school safety officer.
Loved ones embraced one another and carried lit candles outside Long Beach Memorial Medical Center where Rodriguez has been in critical condition in the ICU since she was shot by a school safety officer investigating an assault near Millikan High School. Earlier Wednesday, Rodriguez’s boyfriend said she had been shot in the back of the head and was on life support.
Rogelio Sahagun, uncle of Mona Rodriguez, speaks at a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Friends and family gather for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Friends and family of Mona Rodriguez gather for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Rogelio Sahagun, uncle of Mona Rodriguez, speaks at a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Family members of Mona Rodriguez gather at a vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Friends and family of Mona Rodriguez gather for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Friends and family of Mona Rodriguez gather for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, Sept. 29, 2021 near Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Rodriguez was shot Monday when a school safety officer fired his weapon into the vehicle she was in near Millikan High School. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Rafeul Chowdhury, who has a 5-month-old son with Rodriguez, said he was the driver of the car the school safety officer shot at Monday afternoon as he, Rodriguez and his brother drove away. The officer had been investigating a fight between Rodriguez and a 15-year-old girl, police said.
Long Beach police were leading the investigation into the shooting. The safety officer, an employee of the Long Beach Unified School District who has been placed on paid administrative leave, was cooperating with the investigation, officials said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office was also conducting an investigation.
