Uncle lambastes cop who shot Hofstra student

Shawn Cohen | The (Westchester County) Journal News

EASTCHESTER, N.Y. — The uncle of a slain Hofstra University student blamed the police officer Monday who accidentally shot her while responding to a home invasion, calling his actions unprofessional.

The officer should have tried to talk the gunman into surrendering, said Henrique Santos of Eastchester, who also is godfather to twin sisters Jessica and Andrea Rebello of Tarrytown, N.Y.

"He should have negotiated," Santos said. "If he tried to negotiate, nothing would happen, I'm sure."

A police bullet killed Andrea Rebello, 21, early Friday at the Long Island apartment near Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., that she shared with her sister as an armed intruder held her in a headlock at gunpoint. The officer had opened fire around 2:30 a.m. after the masked intruder, a felon wanted on a parole violation who also died in the confrontation, pointed a gun at the officer.

Reached by phone, Santos, who has spoken on behalf of the family since the shooting, spoke out in detail for the first time about the circumstances surrounding Andrea Rebello's death. He has been with family since the shooting.

Santos said he is angry with the Nassau County officer, whom he believes should not have entered the off-campus home knowing an armed intruder was inside. Witnesses at the scene have told him that the gunman, Dalton Smith, held Andrea Rebello in a headlock and shouted at police, "If you shoot me, I shoot her."

Police should have told him to take what he wanted but to leave the young woman alone, Santos said.

Smith and Rebello were killed when the officer fired eight shots. Seven struck Smith while the eighth struck Andrea Rebello in the head, according to Nassau County Police.

"He should have hit the guy with the first shot, not eight," Santos said angrily.

Meanwhile, Andrea Rebello's twin sister, Jessica, has struggled since Friday.

"She tries to sleep," Santos said. "When she wakes up she continues to cry. She said, 'Why? Why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong?' "

He described the two young women as being of one mind, doing everything together. That has made the loss all the more devastating, Santos said. Andrea Rebello had aspired to become a fashion designer.

Santos blames her death on one police officer's split-second decision.

"I think the guy did nothing right," Santos said. "In a case like that, you have to be professional. I don't know why he did not negotiate, ask for help."