[ad_1]
Hundreds of people gathered in a school classroom Monday to pay tribute to Antwon Rose, an unarmed 17-year-old high school student who was killed by a police officer last week.
Rose, a student of high rank and honor, was shot three times after fleeing a vehicle during a traffic stop and escaped from the police.
The funeral service was mainly for friends and family. The ceremony was held at the Woodland Hills Intermediate School, where Rose attended the middle school. No demonstration was scheduled Monday out of respect for his family.
Mary Brookins, a school substitute teacher, said that she was hurt and confused by Rose's death and said that the teenager was always respectful to her.
"I have sons and it could have been my son," Brookins told NBC News. "I can always remember that smile that he had."
"Nobody has a hard time to say about it, because there is nothing hard to say," said Lillian McClain, who grew up with Rose's family.
The healing process can only begin when Antwon, his family and the community get justice. "
On Sunday, hundreds of people passed through Tunie Funeral Home during Rose's wake – some wearing shirts that read, "3 shots in the back, how do you justify that?" Since Rose's death, protests have become commonplace in the East Pittsburgh area where the shooting took place.
Michael Rosfeld, 30, the officer who fired the fatal shots, was placed in administrative head while waiting for an investigation into the incident. Rosfeld had been at work for three weeks and was sworn in the East Pittsburgh Police Department 90 minutes before the shooting.
During five nights of protests, activists and community members called for greater police accountability and Allegheny District Attorney, Stephen Zappala, to file a lawsuit against Rosfeld.
The Pittsburgh Coalition of Black Elected Officials, working to transform Black communities in the city, called for criminal charges "immediately".
"The healing process can only begin when Antwon, his family and the community get justice," the group said in a statement.
The official Twitter account of the Allegheny County District Attorney did not specify when the office would deal with the status of their investigation.
NBC News contacted Zappala for additional comments, but received no response. Rosfield's lawyer, Pat Thomassey, said he and his client refused to comment.
Michelle Kenney, Rose's mother, told ABC News that she believed the officer had "killed my son in cold blood".
"If he has a son, I pray that his heart never hurts like mine," Kenney said, "but I think he should pay for taking my son's life."
The East Pittsburgh police first intercepted the vehicle Rose was in because they said it matched the description of a car involved in a car shootout 13 minutes earlier.
According to Allegheny County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough, police ordered the driver of the vehicle to get out of the car. It was at that moment that Rose and another man "left the vehicle on foot".
In a cell phone video posted on social media by witness Shauny Mary, Rose and another man are seen coming out on the passenger side of a silver Chevy Cruze and running before several shots are fired.
According to McDonough, two semi-automatic guns were found on the floor of the vehicle and they discovered that Rose was not armed and that an empty gun had been found in her pocket.
Police officials urged community members to be patient so that his office could conduct a "fair and objective investigation".
Follow NBC BLK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
[ad_2]
Source link
