No charges for Omaha Police officers who shot and killed two men

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Douglas County attorney said Thursday that two police officers were justified in a fatal shooting.

County Attorney Don Kleine said Capt. Jay Leavitt and Officer Robert Soldo will not be charged.

They fatally shot Fernando Rodriguez-Juarez, 26, and Jonathan Hernandez-Rosales, 28, in south Omaha on Saturday.

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The officers were off duty, working security at a nightclub near 32nd and L streets.

The driver of a Jeep drove past the nightclub and fired through the passenger window toward the officers and others, the Associated Press reported.

“The officers had to react to that instantly,” Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said at a press conference.

They shot at the men a total of 21 times and struck each of them three times, Omaha Police said.

The men drove into an alley, and as the police were waiting for backup to arrive, the paramedics took about eight minutes to get to the men.

Rodriguez-Juarez and Hernandez-Rosales later died at the hospital.

Schmaderer said both men were in the country illegally, according to the AP.

Rodriguez-Juarez was a citizen of Mexico, and Hernandez-Rosales was from Nicaragua.

Investigators were unsure how well the men understood English, but Schmaderer said there was no time for the officers to issue any commands, regardless of language, before firing their weapons.