OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — An incident Saturday morning involving two Omaha Police officers resulted in the death of two men. Omaha Police walk through the moments that led up to several shots being fired.
- Omaha Police said the incident happened shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday February 3, 2024 in a parking lot near 32nd and L streets.
- Omaha Police detailed the incident in a 17-minute video produced by the department.
- Watch the video to see surveillance from nearby businesses when the incident happened.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The actions of two Omaha Police officers early Saturday morning that resulted in the death of two men were justified according to the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
Omaha Police walked through the moments that lead up to the incident caught on surveillance cameras of businesses near 32nd and L.
Police say Captain Jay Leavitt and Officer Robert Soldo were working off-duty at the Extasis nightclub.
This video edited by Omaha Police shows the incident from multiple security cameras in the area. The following account from the two officers was provided to reporters.
Officers say they saw 28-year-old Jonathan Hernandez-Rosales and 26-year-old Fernando Rodriguez-Juarez leave the parking lot in black Jeep Cherokee.
Moments later Rodriguez-Juarez and Hernandez-Rosales pulled back up and confronted a group of people in a parking lot next to the club. The two had been arguing with the group earlier.
Officers saw the driver Rodriguez-Juarez reach over Hernandez-Rosales pointing a gun at the group.
One shot was fired and seconds later both officers fired their guns.
Chief Todd Schmaderer says their response was in line with department policy.
“The communication was the gunshot, the officers had to react to that instantly and there wasn’t any time at that point to issue any command Spanish or anything of that nature, they had to respond instantly to the gunshot,” said Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.
21 shots were fired from the officers – 12 from Captain Leavitt and 9 from Officer Soldo.
Because of Captain Leavitt’s rank he is not required to wear a body camera, Officer Soldo was wearing one but it was not turned on until after the shots were fired.
Following state guidelines, this incident will go to Grand Jury review.
