Family and friends of Wappingers teen shot by police seek body-camera video, use-of-force policies
Juana Rubio said Granados-Colindres' family and friends are anxiously awaiting a chance to view the police body-camera video of the incident so they can try to begin to make sense of Saturday's tragedy.
Family and friends of a Wappingers Falls teen shot and killed during an encounter with police said on Monday that they feel like they are in the dark as to what happened that led police to have to shoot the teen.
Jonathan Ortiz and Juana Rubio were surprised to learn the reason for the call that brought village police and New York State Police to the bridge over Wappinger Creek.
According to scanner traffic, the initial call was for a possible "suicidal subject with a knife."
Ortiz and Rubio are close with the family of Oscar Granados-Colindres, who was shot and killed by police early Saturday morning. They always knew him to be a pleasant person, a big soccer fan and a good friend of their daughter.
Police said that during the encounter, multiple officers ended up shooting at Granados-Colindres.
The case has been referred to the New York State Attorney General's office, which is reviewing the case and may later announce an investigation if necessary.
Rubio said Granados-Colindres' family and friends are anxiously awaiting a chance to view the police body-camera video of the incident so they can try to begin to make sense of Saturday's tragedy.
"Because people are saying all kinds of things," Rubio said in Spanish. "One story and then another. We really want to see [the footage] from the camera, the officer's camera, so we can know what really happened."
They also want to learn more about the two police agencies' policies and training procedures for using force when a teenage subject is holding a knife.
The attorney general's office said that information will come out in due course.
A spokesperson said, per its policy, the special investigations unit will release the body-camera video in a "timely manner" and "will not wait until the completion of an investigation to release the footage."
No exact time frame was given.
