Teen detained in case that led to fatal police shooting

PITTSBURGH — Police made an arrest in a drive-by shooting that started a chain of events resulting in the police killing of a black teenager.

The teenager under arrest was with the victim, 17-year-old Antwon Rose Jr., the night he was shot by police, authorities said Tuesday.

Authorities said Rose and the arrested teen fled after being pulled over June 19 on suspicion they had involvement with the drive-by shooting.

Police shot Rose three times, leading to daily protests around Pittsburgh.

Investigators have not said whether they believe Rose had any involvement in the earlier violence that left one wounded. Two guns were recovered from the car they were riding in, and an empty gun magazine was found in Rose’s pants pocket.

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In video of the fatal shooting taken from a nearby home, Rose, in a grey shirt, is the first to run from the vehicle.

The arrest came as dozens of protesters returned to the streets of downtown Pittsburgh, blocking traffic with locked arms and raised fists, demanding justice in Rose’s death.

Chanting, “Who did this? The police did this!” and “Three shots to the back, how do you justify that?” marchers began walking several blocks shortly after 7:30 a.m., shutting down busy intersections for more than two hours.

The crowd made stops at the county and city courthouses, pausing regularly to recall the black teenager in moments of silence a week after he was shot.

Wearing a black T-shirt with the word “ENDANGERED” printed in red, white and blue, protest leader Nicki Jo Dawson told the crowd: “This isn’t something to do for fun.”

“This isn’t a hobby,” Dawson said. “We do this to get justice we’ve never seen. In this courthouse, there’s a man who refuses to indict an (officer) for killing one of our children. Not today.”

Some passers-by raised their fists in solidarity, while others — including several commuters — shouted and honked in frustration. Pittsburgh police flanked the protester route.

Christian Carter read the 2016 poem Rose wrote, “I Am Not What You Think,” in which he discussed not wanting his mother to lose him to violence and not wanting to become a statistic.

In the days since Rose was fatally shot by a white police officer, marchers have demonstrated almost daily. They refrained from protest Monday, as Rose was laid to rest, out of respect for his family.

On Tuesday, they renewed their call for Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to prosecute Officer Michael Rosefeld in Rose’s death. Zappala has said he wanted to delay publicly discussing the investigation until after Rose’s funeral, but it is unclear when he will do so.

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Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer contributed to this report.

Errin Haines Whack, The Associated Press