Syracuse, N.Y. — Two teens shot and killed by an Onondaga County deputy investigating a burglary have been identified.
They are Lueth Mo, 15, and Dhal Apet, 17, according to Haz Bloodworth, a community activist. Both were Henninger High School students.
The teens were shot Wednesday morning after the stolen car they were in nearly ran over the deputy, according to Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley. The shooting happened near the Midler Meadows mobile home park on North Midler Avenue in DeWitt.
The names were confirmed by several sources familiar with the investigation or in contact with the families. (The sheriff’s office at first declined to identify the teens. Thursday afternoon, the sheriff’s office confirmed the names.)
That stolen vehicle was suspected of being involved in two overnight burglaries, Shelley said.
The two teens were killed by three shots fired into the vehicle, Shelley said. The sheriff referred to a witness’s video that he said showed that the deputy didn’t have time to get out of the way.
The witness’s video has not been made public. The deputy, who has not yet been publicly identified, was wearing a body camera but didn’t have it turned on during the shooting. Shelley said the deputy didn’t have time to turn on the camera.
The deputy “had nowhere to flee to. This whole thing happens in seconds. He had no options,” Shelley said.
The deputy was not injured, the sheriff said.
The chain of events started around 9 p.m. Tuesday, when two vehicles were stolen from the area around James Street and Hixson Avenue in Syracuse, Shelley said. One was a Kia and one was a Hyundai.
Those stolen vehicles were connected to a 4 a.m. burglary of a smoke shop in Oneida, the sheriff said.
An alarm went off at OQ Smokeline store in the Glenwood Plaza, according to Oneida police. Officers found the side door of the store smashed, police said. Surveillance footage shows two groups arriving in a dark van and white sedan and then entering through the smashed door, police said.
Items were taken from the store and the two vehicles left, police said.
Wednesday morning, the same vehicles were seen in a burglary at a smoke shop on East Molloy Road in DeWitt, Shelley said.
The burglary call was at the Prince Smoke Shop on 176 E. Molloy Rd, according to the source, who had been involved in a briefing on the matter.
The deputy involved in the shooting was in the middle of investigating the East Molloy Road burglary when someone called 911 to report suspicious activity at the Midler Meadows mobile home park, Shelley said.
The 6:18 a.m. a caller reported three or four males wearing dark clothing moving items between a sedan and a dark-colored minivan at the mobile home park. The deputy responded to the mobile home park, knowing that the vehicles the caller mentioned matched the description of those seen on video from the smoke shop burglary, Shelley said.
Moments after arriving, Shelley said, one of the suspects’ vehicles tried to run over the deputy. The deputy pulled out his gun and fired three times, the sheriff said.
Both suspect vehicles sped off. One of them hasn’t been found. The other was found back near the location of the initial car burglaries when it crashed at about 7 a.m. on Mooney Avenue in Eastwood, Shelley said.
There, one occupant was found dead and another was near death, the sheriff said. The second occupant died shortly after as a deputy tried life-saving efforts, Shelley said.
A third person in the vehicle with the deceased has not been found.
The state Attorney General’s Office, which is tasked with looking into deaths caused by police officers in New York, confirmed it was doing a full, special investigation of the shooting.
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Two people killed by police in shooting in DeWitt, authorities say
Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.