By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 10/30/2026
Category: Police Accountability / Public Safety / Civil Rights
GATES, NY – New York Attorney General Letitia James has released body-camera footage from the fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Haley Rodriguez, placing a disturbing encounter before the public while the state’s investigation remains open.
Rodriguez died after an encounter with a Town of Gates police officer shortly after 1 a.m. on October 4. The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation said the officer saw her walking in the middle of Spencerport Road while holding what appeared to be a handgun.
The state says the officer stopped, got out of a marked police vehicle and asked Rodriguez to put the object down. Officials allege she pointed it toward the officer, who then fired. Rodriguez was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.
Investigators recovered an imitation handgun at the scene, according to the attorney general. Gates Police Chief Robert Long later described the object as a seven-inch replica revolver that was actually the screw-on handle of a walking stick and could not fire.
WXXI reported that the officer fired five times during an encounter lasting roughly 20 seconds. The footage reportedly captures the officer repeatedly asking Rodriguez to put the object down and saying he did not want to hurt her.
Those facts do not end the inquiry. The public release is not a finding that the shooting was justified, criminal or improper. The Attorney General’s Office explicitly said the footage release expresses no opinion about guilt, innocence or whether anyone should be charged.
That distinction matters. Body-camera video can establish what a camera recorded, but it does not by itself resolve every question about distance, perception, available alternatives, police training or whether the use of deadly force met the legal standard.
Rodriguez’s family is also living with a loss that cannot be reduced to a clip. Family members told local reporters that she was struck in the face and chest. The officer was placed on leave, and the Attorney General’s Office and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office opened investigations.
Under Executive Law Section 70-b, the Office of Special Investigation reviews deaths that may have been caused by police or peace officers. If investigators conclude an officer caused a death, the office may present evidence to a grand jury or issue a public report explaining why it did not seek charges.
The footage was released under a state policy intended to increase transparency and public trust. Transparency, however, is only the first accountability step. The investigation must still address the officer’s decision-making, the sequence captured on video and whether department policies were followed.
The unresolved questions are now the most important ones. What did the officer reasonably perceive in the seconds before firing? Was there time or space for another response? Did training and policy leave any safe alternative? The final OSI report should answer those questions with evidence, not assumptions.
Until then, the confirmed facts are limited: Rodriguez is dead, the object was not a working firearm, an officer fired five rounds, and the state investigation remains active.
Sources
New York Attorney General: October 29 Footage Release
Leave a Reply