Lawyer: empty gun clip irrelevant in teen's fatal shooting

Friday, June 22, 2018
EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania District Attorney says a black teen fatally shot by an officer as fled from a traffic stop had an empty gun clip in his pocket, but the family's attorney says that has no bearing on whether the shooting was justified.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that 17-year-old Antwon Rose Jr. was not armed during the fatal shooting Tuesday night. A message left for Zappala by The Associated Press was not immediately returned Friday.

Fred Rabner, an attorney for Rose's family, says the empty clip and two guns found in the car should not determine whether the officer was justified in firing three shots at Rose and another passenger as they ran away.

The car had been stopped for possibly being involved in an earlier shooting in another town.

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