Antwon Rose death: East Pittsburgh cop charged with criminal homicide

The East Pittsburgh police officer who shot and killed Antwon Rose II, an unarmed teenager fleeing a police stop, has been charged with criminal homicide.

Officer Michael Rosfeld, who was officially sworn into the police department just hours before the shooting, turned himself in to City Court in downtown Pittsburgh Wednesday morning on one charge of criminal homicide, according to court documents.

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According to Allegheny County police, Rose, 17, was stopped June 19 along with two other people because their car matched the description of a similar vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting 13 minutes earlier.

Police said Rose, who was unarmed, attempted to flee police during the stop, and was shot in the back three times by Rosfeld. A video that showed the shooting quickly went viral on social media.

Allegheny County District Attorney Zappala told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that an empty handgun magazine was in Rose's pocket when he was killed.

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Zaijuan Hester, who also fled from the car, was arrested earlier this week and is charged with attempted homicide and related offenses related to the drive-by shooting in North Braddock, a suburb 11 miles east of Pittsburgh. Police said two guns were found in the car Rose and Hester ran from.

Rosefeld, who previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh, according to the Post-Gazette, and was a part-time police officer, had been placed on leave following the incident.

A preliminary hearing for Rosfeld has been scheduled for July 6.