The family of Antwon Rose, the 17-year old teen that was shot three times in the back by a Pittsburgh police officer, filed a lawsuit against the borough on Wednesday.
According to ABC News, the federal lawsuit against East Pittsburgh, filed on behalf of Rose’s parents Michelle Kenney and Antwon Rose, Sr., alleges wrongful death and use of “excessive and deadly force” against Rose. They are also claiming that the borough “failed to properly train, supervise, screen, discipline, transfer, counsel or otherwise control officers who are known, or who should have been known, to engage in the use of excessive force and/or deadly force, including those officers repeatedly accused of such acts.”
One of those officers was Michael Rosfeld, who shot Rose last month after he and another passenger fled from a car stopped by police. Allegheny County Police say they were on the hunt for the car in connection with an earlier shooting. Cellphone footage, according to different media accounts, shows Rosfeld firing his gun at Rose as he is fleeing the scene. The shots hit him in the back.
Rosfeld has been named as a defendant on the suit alongside East Pittsburgh Police Chief Lori Fruncek and Mayor Louis Payne.
“The overwhelming facts and unequivocal laws supporting this lawsuit are so clear and self-evident that it could have been filed within days of Antwon’s death,” Fred Rabner, an attorney representing the Rose family, said in a statement. “And while this suit will never quell their tremendous grief or minimize their tragic loss, we feel that it is time that we begin to seek answers and take appropriate court action to ensure justice.”
Rosfeld has been charged with one count of homicide.
According to Payne, Rosfeld was a recent hire who had been sworn in just hours before the shooting. Payne emphasized that the Rosfeld was not a rookie, WPIX reports.
