Cops Fired Bullet That Killed Hofstra Student

The Hofstra University junior who died early Friday in a home invasion was killed by a bullet fired by police, reports the New York Daily News in a sad coda in the death of Andrea Rebello. Police say the fatal bullet was one of eight fired by a veteran cop as ex-con Dalton Smith used Rebello as a human shield, and screamed "I'm going to kill her;" the other seven rounds struck Smith, who also died in the shootout. Police say that a front door left open while one of Rebello's friends went to move a car gave Smith his entrance: “It appears to be a crime of opportunity,” says a spokesman. Smith “was walking the neighborhood and saw the door open.”

An officer responding to a 911 call made it inside the house unbeknown to Smith, the Daily News adds. As Smith hustled Rebello toward a back door, he spotted the cop, and moved “her even closer to his body," says the police spokesman. As he pointed his gun at the cop, the cop opened fire, killing both. The officer is on sick leave. Rebello's twin sister, Jessica, escaped the house alive. Smith had an extensive criminal history, and an arrest warrant had been issued late last month after he'd been released in February on parole. (More Hofstra University stories.)