TRAGIC: Long Island cops yesterday investigate the Uniondale home (above) where student Andrea Rebello was killed by an officer’s bullet in a standoff with hostage-taking intruder Dalton Smith. (Dennisthephotog.com)
Dalton Smith
TRAGIC: Long Island cops yesterday investigate the Uniondale home (right) where student Andrea Rebello (left) was killed by an officer’s bullet in a standoff with hostage-taking intruder Dalton Smith (inset). (
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The Nassau County cop who fatally shot a Hofstra University student during a terrifying home-invasion standoff is “inconsolable,” sources told The Post yesterday.
“He blames himself and keeps replaying it in his mind,” a police source said. “He is torn up about the poor girl.”
The veteran officer was identified by sources as Officer Nikolas Budimlic, 42, a former NYPD cop with two young kids of his own, including a daughter.
Budimlic accidently shot and killed 21-year-old Andrea Rebello on Friday as violent felon Dalton Smith held her in a headlock and used her as a human shield while he trained a 9mm pistol at the officer.
Budimlic fired eight shots at Smith. Seven bullets hit the perp; one struck Rebello in the head, authorities said.
Rebello’s family was still reeling yesterday from the news that friendly fire had killed the pretty public-relations major — whose twin sister, Jessica, was in the Uniondale home with her moments before the bloodshed.
“The family is in severe shock over this. This has been the worst,” said Rebello’s godfather, Henry Santos. “When we found out [she was killed by an officer] it was a real second shock . . . like it happened again.”
Nassau police sources insisted Budimlic — a 12-year Nassau veteran who also spent seven years in the NYPD — followed police rules in an impossible situation.
“It was a tragic accident. There’s no reason to believe that any protocol was not followed,” one source said.
“There’s no playbook. You arrive at a home, and the guy has a gun to the victim’s head — what do you do?” the source said. “You rely on your training and your instincts and hope for the best outcome.”
Budimlic and another officer were the first to respond to the early-morning call at the rented California Avenue home where the twins had just returned with a group of pals after toasting their last day of classes.
Authorities said Smith — wanted on a parole violation and fresh off a prison stint for attempted robbery — broke into the home and brandished a gun at the terrified group.
Smith allowed one of the friends, Shannon Thomas, to leave the house, presumably to go to an ATM to get him money, Jessica’s boyfriend, John Kourtessis, told The Post on Saturday.
Instead, Thomas left and called 911 and said the perp was putting a gun to her friends’ heads.
Police responding to a known hostage situation are required to call for backup, a Nassau law-enforcement source said yesterday.
“And under no circumstances should they go through that front door,” the source said.
But — despite radio transmissions mentioning hostages — it wasn’t clear if Budimlic and his partner heard the broadcast, another source said.
The two cops arrived at the house just as Jessica was escaping through the front door, screaming that Smith had a gun.
Budimlic saw movement in the house and stepped inside. Almost instantly, he was separated from his partner when the front door slammed shut and locked the other cop out.
“The officer was trapped inside,’’ a source said of Budimlic.
Budimlic then “hid behind a wall” hoping to surprise Smith, the source said.
When the terrified Kourtessis, hiding behind a couch, suddenly yelled that police were inside the house, Smith pulled Rebello closer and spotted Budimlic, the source said.
“The officer lost the element of surprise” and was alone with no backup, the source said.
The Nassau DA’s Office has been a part of the investigation from the beginning and will receive the results of the inquiries and decide whether anything needs to be presented to a grand jury.
Several people answering the phone at Budimlic’s home hung up on a reporter. Other relatives declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Rosenberg and Jeane MacIntosh