Homicide charges will not be filed in the shooting death two years ago of a man in a confrontation with three Pittsburgh Housing Authority police officers in the Hill District, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced yesterday.
Bernard Rogers, 26, died Nov. 15, 2002, outside a building in the Bedford Dwellings housing complex after the struggle, primarily with Officer Tonyea Curry.
"After thorough investigation and protracted public proceedings, substantial evidence indicates that ... Bernard Rogers sustained a fatal chest wound when he assaulted [the officers] and became involved in a struggle over an officer's weapon," Zappala said in a written statement yesterday.
"Given the extensive publication of this evidence, further comment in this regard is not necessary at this time," Zappala wrote.
Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, after several sessions of an open inquest over several months, had recommended to Zappala that homicide charges be filed against Curry and two other officers, Douglas Butler and Artie Patterson, who had entered an apartment to investigate suspected drug trafficking.
The coroner's position was that Rogers was shot as he fled the scene, though he was unarmed and not under arrest.
After further review of the testimony and evidence, Wecht's recommendation changed, largely on testimony that Rogers was shot while struggling with Curry for control of the officer's service pistol. [more] and [more]