A Hofstra University student was shot and killed after an armed, masked man broke into the home she shared with her twin sister and several other women near the Long Island campus overnight. The suspect was also killed, and authorities couldn't immediately say who fired the fatal shots.
Nassau County police say three women and one man were in the California Avenue home at about 2:20 a.m. when the suspect forced his way in. The suspect let one woman go, possibly to get money from the bank, and she called 911 after she left.
According to police radio transmissions on broadcastify.com, the woman who was allowed to leave told the 911 dispatcher that the suspect had a silver handgun pointed at her friend's head in a second-floor bedroom of the house, and that there were multiple hostages.
Police say they received the call at about 2:29 a.m. and that there was a "police involved shooting in the home" shortly after officers responded. The suspect was killed, along with the 21-year-old victim, identified as Andrea Rebello.
No police officers were injured. A gun was recovered in the house.
"We are going to get to the bottom of what happened," Nassau Chief of Detectives John Capece said.
One of the victim's friends told NBC 4 New York she was a member of a sorority. Police identified her as Andrea Rebello of Westchester County. They said she was a junior at the school and that her twin sister, Jessica, was one of the other women home during the invasion.
Nassau County police say three women and one man were in the California Avenue home at about 2:20 a.m. when the suspect forced his way in. The suspect let one woman go, possibly to get money from the bank, and she called 911 after she left.
According to police radio transmissions on broadcastify.com, the woman who was allowed to leave told the 911 dispatcher that the suspect had a silver handgun pointed at her friend's head in a second-floor bedroom of the house, and that there were multiple hostages.
Police say they received the call at about 2:29 a.m. and that there was a "police involved shooting in the home" shortly after officers responded. The suspect was killed, along with the 21-year-old victim, identified as Andrea Rebello.
No police officers were injured. A gun was recovered in the house.
"We are going to get to the bottom of what happened," Nassau Chief of Detectives John Capece said.
One of the victim's friends told NBC 4 New York she was a member of a sorority. Police identified her as Andrea Rebello of Westchester County. They said she was a junior at the school and that her twin sister, Jessica, was one of the other women home during the invasion.
At her high school in Sleepy Hollow, Principal Carol Conklin-Spillane said Andrea Rebello was an "all around wonderful woman."
"She was very self-aware," said Conklin-Spillane. "She was a determined hard worker."
Saturday is the last day of Hofstra's spring semester, according to the university's website. Graduation is Sunday.
"A young member of the Hofstra family has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence," Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz said in a statement. "Our hearts and minds and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her friends and her classmates."
Rabinowitz said that commencement activities would proceed as scheduled.
Saturday is the last day of Hofstra's spring semester, according to the university's website. Graduation is Sunday.
"A young member of the Hofstra family has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence," Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz said in a statement. "Our hearts and minds and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her friends and her classmates."
Rabinowitz said that commencement activities would proceed as scheduled.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
