Following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Pittsburgh, nearly 1,000 protesters demonstrated for hours on a highway outside the city. Antwon Rose, 17, was shot and killed Tuesday, running from a traffic stop in East Pittsburgh.
Protesters marched on Interstate 376, carrying signs that read "No justice, no peace, no racist police" and "Justice for Antwon." The demonstration shut down the highway for six hours Thursday night through Friday morning, WTAE-TV reported. At least one person was arrested.
Rose was a passenger in a car police suspected to be linked to a separate shooting Tuesday, police said. Police said Rose ran from the car after it was stopped. An officer then opened fire and struck him.
"The driver of the vehicle was ordered out by the officer and directed to the ground," the Allegheny County Police Department wrote in a Facebook post. "Two other occupants of the vehicle then bolted from the vehicle on foot. The East Pittsburgh officer fired his weapon, striking one of the fleeing suspects several times. The gunshot victim, a 17-year-old male, was transported to McKeesport hospital where he was pronounced deceased."
Allegheny police said the shooting was being investigated. The officer, identified as Michael H. Rosfeld, was placed on administrative leave. New to the department, Rosfeld had been sworn in just hours before the shooting Tuesday. His work history and background were also being investigated, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
"These facts, without more, simply leave very little room to justify the use of deadly force by this officer," family attorney S. Lee Merritt said, according to CNN.
The Allegheny County District Attorney's office confirmed Rose was unarmed but had an empty clip of a handgun in his pocket, The New York Timesreported. Two guns were also found in the car.
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Juliana previously led the breaking news/national news team at Newsweek. Juliana graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism. Prior to joining Newsweek, she worked at the Major League Baseball Network where she won two Emmy Awards as a broadcast associate.
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Juliana Pignataro is the U.S. News Director.
Juliana previously led the breaking news/national news team at Newsweek. Juliana graduated from the ...
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