Teen shot by cop showed hands, had no gun: DA

EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) – A district attorney says the black teen shot and killed by a white police officer as he fled a traffic stop showed his hands and clearly didn’t have a weapon.

East Pittsburgh Officer Michael Rosfeld was charged Wednesday with criminal homicide. Records show the 30-year-old gave inconsistent statements about whether he believed Rose had a gun.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala says “you do not shoot someone in the back if they are not a threat to you.”

Zappala says the officer’s actions clearly support a third-degree murder conviction but they will ask the jury to consider a full range of charges, including first-degree murder.

Zappala says Rosfeld is remorseful.

He says Rose had nothing to do with the earlier crime that led to the traffic stop.