MINEOLA, N.Y. — A police officer who fatally shot a Hofstra University junior and her hostage-taker during a standoff inside an off-campus house had no option but deadly force, a prosecutor said Wednesday following an 11-month investigation.
‘‘Though the results were unquestionably tragic, criminal charges under these circumstances would be inappropriate and legally unsustainable,’’ Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said at the conclusion of a report into the May 2013 shooting.
The prosecutor concluded that the death of 21-year-old Andrea Rebello of Tarrytown, N.Y., was caused by gunman Dalton Smith’s decisions to break into the residence armed with a gun, take several hostages, and then refuse to surrender when police arrived.