Sleepy Hollow High School Graduate Killed in Long Island

Area news crews flocked to Sleepy Hollow High School today, soon after the story broke that a recent graduate had been killed on Long Island. 

Andrea Rebello, 21, a 2010 Sleepy Hollow High School graduate, was shot to death early this morning during an alleged home invasion of the place she shared with her identical twin Jessica and other sorority sisters attending Hofstra University, reported the New York Daily news today.

The Rebello family lives in Tarrytown, where the Journal News tracked down a tearful, shocked and heartbroken father. Fernando Rebello told LoHud.com this afternoon, “It’s my daughter, my baby daughter... She was so beautiful." 

SHHS principal Carol Conklin-Spillane described the girls in high school to the Journal News as "each other's best friends." She said, "She's a lovely young woman; she and her sister were terrific kids all through high school... We are just heartbroken."

Both a masked gunman and Rebello were killed after police responded to the off-campus home responding to a call for a break-in. 

"Police acknowledged that officers opened fire inside the two-story home couldn’t confirm who fired the bullets that killed the popular college student and her unidentified captor," reported the New York Daily News.

Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz issued this statement:

The Nassau County Police have notified us that early this morning a Hofstra student, Andrea Rebello, a junior majoring in public relations, was killed during a tragic crime which took place in a rental house off campus. The police investigation is ongoing, and we do not yet know all of the relevant details. What we do know is that a young member of the Hofstra family has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence. Our hearts and minds and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her friends, and her classmates. While our hearts are laden with grief, this weekend’s commencement ceremonies will go on as scheduled. The accomplishments of our graduates must be recognized, and together our community will heal and find the strength to move forward.