Lawsuit filed in Greece police officer’s murder-suicide

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A lawsuit has been filed in the case of an off-duty Greece police officer who shot two women, killing one, before fatally shooting herself.

On Nov. 15, 2022, Tiffani Gatson shot and killed Angely Solis, and shot and injured Solis’ sister, Deanette Solis at the home the sisters shared at 25 Costar St., in Rochester.

Gatson, who was a member of the Greece Police Department since 2018, then turned the gun on herself.

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation reviewed the case and released a report in May.

On the evening of the incident, Angely Solis called her sister, Deanette Solis, who said she could hear arguing in the background, according to the report.

Shortly after calling her sister, Angely Solis called 911. The recording of the 911 call indicated an ongoing physical fight or struggle, according to the report.

When Deanette Solis arrived at the home on Costar Street, she saw Gatson fighting with Angely Solis and tried to break them up, getting between the two women.

Gatson then pulled out a handgun and shot Angely Solis and her sister, then shot Angely Solis a second time while she was on the ground.

Gatson then shot herself in the head, according to the report.

Angely Solis was pronounced dead at the scene. Gatson was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The investigation “uncovered no evidence indicating that any other person was involved in the homicide,” according to the report.

Heriberto Solis, the proposed administrator of the estate of Angely Solis, and Deanette Solis, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court Friday seeking compensatory, punitive, and emotional distress damages.

The plaintiffs are represented by Nassau County attorney Spencer D. Shapiro.

The suit claims violations of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, failure of the town and police department to properly supervise and train Gatson, negligent hiring, training and supervision practices, infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery, wrongful death, and conscious pain and suffering.

The suit claims that, before her employment with the Greece Police, Gatson had applied for jobs with other law enforcement agencies “but was denied as she was found to not be mentally fit to serve.”

The suit claims the defendants should have known that Gatson was “a known risk to engage in violence and was psychologically and emotionally unfit to be a police officer and to possess a dangerous instrumentality such as a handgun.”

The complaint claims “it was the custom, policy, and practice of Greece to tolerate, condone, and encourage constitutional violations, such as those alleged by plaintiffs … by failing to properly punish, charge, reprimand, and investigate allegations and incidents of police misconduct.”

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