A tech entrepreneur in Texas wasn’t given enough time to drop his rifle on his own front porch before he was fatally shot by police last month, his devastated family told NBC News.
Rajan “Raj” Moonesinghe, 33, had returned from a trip and suspected his home had been burglarized during the early-morning hours of Nov. 15. That’s when he held a rifle outside his front door and was encountered by officer Daniel Sanchez who quickly shot Moonesinghe while almost simultaneously ordering him to drop the gun, relatives said.
Austin police said in a statement the deadly shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m.
They said a 911 caller told a dispatcher that a man in a gray robe and dark pants was pointing a rifle down the street.
Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, or CLEAT, said Sanchez followed police protocol.
From the below videos, it’s clear that officer Sanchez gave Moonesinghe the command to drop his weapon and immediately started shooting.
Watch:
More details from NBC News:
Ruth Moonesinghe described her son, the co-founder of a restaurant consulting business, as an “amazing gift” to her and many others.
“I just wanted to hold him … and say, ‘I love him. Thank you for being this amazing gift that I had,”’ she said. “I’m just sad. I wasn’t there because … that shouldn’t have happened to him.”
Austin police said in a statement the deadly shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m.
They said a 911 caller told a dispatcher that a man in a gray robe and dark pants was pointing a rifle down the street.
The caller also said the man was pointing his rifle at the interior of his home, police said. The caller then stated the man just fired into his own home. The caller said the police were on scene and the man fired again, police said.
Police identified the officer who fired at Moonesinghe as Daniel Sanchez, who is now on administrative leave.
“Officer Sanchez was the first to observe Mr. Moonesinghe and gave him a verbal command to drop the gun. Immediately after telling Mr. Moonesinghe to drop the gun, Officer Sanchez fired his Department approved firearm at Mr. Moonesinghe. Mr. Moonesinghe was struck and fell to the ground,” police said.
Two other officers initially responded to the call. One of those officers ordered Moonesinghe to show his hands after he was shot.
“The officers immediately began life-saving measures,” police said. Moonesinghe died at a local hospital, police said.
Sanchez has been with the department for two years and nine months, police said. They said two investigations into the shooting are ongoing.
One is a criminal investigation by the department’s Special Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. The second is an administrative investigation conducted by the department’s Internal Affairs Unit, with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight.
