21-03-2025
After 17-month investigation, Onondaga County deputy whose gunshots killed two teenagers won't be prosecuted by State Attorney General
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The Onondaga County deputy sheriff whose gunshots killed two teenagers in a stolen car he thought was going to run him over will not face criminal charges after a 17-month investigation.
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Three gunshots fired by Deputy John Rosello into the moving Hyundai-brand car killed 15-year-old Lueth Mo and 17-year-old Dhal Apet in the early morning of September 6, 2023.
As a result of extensive work by the New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation, prosecutors feel they 'couldn't disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that his actions were justified.'
While clearing him criminally, the office does criticize Deputy Rosello's failure to activate his uniform-worn camera and calls out his choice to turn off his vehicle's dashboard camera just before the shooting.
After reports of suspicious activity were called into 911, Rosello responded to a parking lot at the intersection of Danzig Street and Poznan Avenue in the Town of DeWitt. The neighborhood is near Midler Park Drive.
Rosello accurately suspected he was dealing with the suspects of a burglary he responded to not even 45 minutes earlier at Prince's Smoke Shop in Mattydale.
While Rosello failed to activate his uniform-worn camera and turned off his vehicle's dashboard camera, a nearby doorbell camera recorded the only known video of the incident.
When they saw the officer's cruiser approaching, suspects who had been exchanging stolen goods between vehicles ran into the two vehicles, one of which sped away.
As Rosello pulled up, he tried to block the remaining vehicle, which was able to back up into bushes and maneuver an exit. As the car pulled away, the video showed the vehicle moving in the officer's direction and getting dangerously close.
To determine whether Rosello's gunfire was justified, the Office of Special Investigation worked with experts to enhance the video quality.
'The video does not clearly show the precise moments or angles of Dep. Rosello's shooting,' said investigators.
In consultation, a shooting reconstruction expert told the Attorney General's Office that 'the first shot was not fired until the Hyundai had started accelerating towards (the officer) and he ceased firing his weapon before the Hyundai fully passed him.'
But, the third and final shot was fired when the vehicle was 'no longer in a position to strike the deputy.'
The most helpful testimony to clearing Rosello of wrongdoing was from a 'use of force' expert, Ashley Heiberger, interviewed by the Attorney General's investigators.
'Such use of deadly force would have been in accordance with generally accepted law enforcement practices,' she said, according to the written report.
She said Rosello 'did not engage in a 'preemptive strike,'' but, 'held his fire until the potential threat, the car, became an imminent threat by moving toward him.'
In defense of Rosello's third shot, which investigators say was after the imminent danger had passed, the expert said it was 'not outside acceptable parameters' because of how long it takes a human's brain to perceive and respond to a change in threat level.
The third teen in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, who was driving, told investigators 'he did not intend to hit the deputy and did not feel the deputy was in danger of being hit because there was plenty of space in the parking lot.'
Through an attorney, the Office of Special Investigation says Deputy Rosello refused a request to be interviewed.
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