Hundreds of marchers took to the streets of Pittsburgh Thursday night, protesting the fatal police shooting of a teenager during a traffic stop Tuesday night.
Traffic was brought to a standstill as protesters spilled onto Pittsburgh’s Parkway East.
The protest was described by WPXI reporters on the scene as “tense,” but “peaceful so far.”
Marchers, holding signs and cell phones, sat down in the street, blocking traffic and causing a back up for miles.
Protesters were told to voluntarily disperse by 1 a.m. Friday. Pennsylvania State Police were able to clear all protesters by 2:45 a.m. At least one woman was arrested.
Residents were angry and upset over the fatal police shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Antwon Rose.
Allegheny County police officials said that Rose was a passenger in a vehicle stopped in East Pittsburgh around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday because it fit the description of a car seen fleeing the area of a shooting in the nearby borough of North Braddock. As an officer handcuffed the driver of the car, which investigators said had bullet damage to the back window, Rose and a second passenger got out of the car and ran.
Footage of the shooting posted on Facebook Tuesday shows the scene from a distance. The 18-second video shows Rose and the other passenger, who has not been found by police, get out of the car and make a break for the yard between two nearby houses.
Three shots are heard and one of the passengers appears to fall into the grass.
Rose, who police officials said was struck three times, was taken to McKeesport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Allegheny County medical examiner on Thursday ruled the teen’s death a homicide.
The East Pittsburgh police officer who shot and killed Rose was sworn in just hours before the fatal encounter.
Mayor Louis Payne told WPXI Wednesday that the unidentified officer who killed Rose previously spent seven years working in other departments, but confirmed that he was working his first shift following his official swearing in with the East Pittsburgh Police Department.
Credit: Keith Srakocic/via AP
Credit: Keith Srakocic/via AP
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