New York Attorney General Letitia James released a video this week depicting the deputy involved shooting that resulted in the death of two Syracuse teens.
Onondaga County Sheriff Deputy John Rosello, was investigating a smoke shop burglary in the Syracuse area on the morning of Sept. 6 and responded to a call about people seen transferring items between two vehicles in DeWitt. It was there that Rosello fired the shots that killed Lueth Mo, 15, and Dhal Apet, 17, of Syracuse.
Community members continue to rally and speak out against the incident. Protestors gathered outside the Onondaga County Sheriff’s office Wednesday to speak out against violence. Rebirth SYR, a community advocacy organization, is calling on Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley to resign after showing his support for the officer involved.
Hasahan Bloodworth, co-founder of Rebirth SYR, said while they will wait to see what is revealed in the investigation now being conducted by the state Attorney General’s office, action will be taken to support the families of the teens.
“We plan on assisting the families to file lawsuits against Onondaga County and the sheriff’s department,” Bloodworth said.
Bloodworth said when incidents like this continue to happen, it makes it hard to hope for any sort of positive relationship between law enforcement and community members.
“They come to us and they are saying that they want to repair these relationships so bad but often, way to often, we see them in our community and they’re acting out, they’re beating on people in the community, they’re jumping on them with great numbers and shooting them and killing them and using excessive force, and all of this is unjustifiable,” Bloodworth said.
The attorney general’s investigation of the incident is ongoing. Shelley said his office will continue to cooperate with the attorney general's office "in any way we can."
