Rosfeld Acquitted In Antwon Rose II Shooting Death

PITTSBURGH, PA - Former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld was found not guilty of homicide charges Friday in the controversial shooting last June of Antwon Rose II.

Rosfeld was accused of fatally shooting Rose, 17, as the unarmed high school student and another person, Zaijuan Hester, ran away after Rosfeld stopped the vehicle they were in.

The vehicle was involved in a nearby drive-by shooting minutes earlier, but there is no evidence Rose fired a weapon in that incident. Hester pleaded guilty last week to the drive-by shooting.

The verdict came several hours after closing arguments in which compellingly different sides of the incident were presented.

“There was no need to use deadly force. It's not OK to run from a traffic stop. But it's not OK to shoot someone who does," prosecutor Joanthan Fodi told jurors, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

WPXI-TV reported that defense attorney Patrick Thomassey told jurors they have to decide whether Rosfeld "is a criminal or a policeman - it's that simple."