A 17-year-old accused of killing two Protestants and another injured with an AR-15-style rifle in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night were charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, is also charged with assaulting the safety of two other victims and possession of a weapon, under the age of 18.
In a complaint released Thursday by the Kenosha County Clerk of Courts, investigators identified the dead as Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. A third victim who was shot is identified as Gaige Grosskreutz. The shootings took place in the middle of the third night of demonstrations over the shooting of police officers. Jacob Blake.
The complaint describes a chaotic scene that takes place at 11.45pm, beginning shortly after a witness, Daily Caller reporter Richard McGinnis, interviewed Rittenhouse.
The complaint alleges that video from cell phones showed Rosenbaum, who appeared unarmed, getting behind Rittenhouse before throwing a plastic bag at him. When the couple arrived in a car, a loud bang was heard, followed by an unknown man shouting an obscenity. When Rosenbaum comes near Rittenhouse, four more bangs are heard.
McGinnis told investigators that Rosenbaum at the time of the shooting tried to take Rittenhouse’s gun, according to the complaint.
Rosenbaum was hit and fell to the ground. McGinnis began administering first aid, the complaint said, adding that McGinnis was presumably in the line of fire when the shooting happened. Rittenhouse is accused of endangering him.
Rittenhouse then began fleeing, walking down the street when witnesses shouted “Get him! Get that guy!” “Hey, he shot him!” and, “Save him!” Detective said as Rittenhouse walked away, he could be heard talking on his mobile phone, saying, “I just killed one.”
At one point, an unknown man appears to be trying to beat Rittenhouse, according to the complaint, knocking off his hat, but does not appear to make any other contact.
Then, in video widely viewed across the nation, the suspect can be seen falling. The complaint said Huber used the moment to disarm Rittenhouse.
The skateboarder approached with his board in one hand, and with the other he appeared “trying to pull the suspect’s gun away,” the complaint said.
Rittenhouse rolled to his left, and when Huber tried to grab the gun, it was pointed at his body according to his complaint.
“The suspect then shoots off one round that can be heard on the video. Huber steps away, takes several steps, then falls to the ground. Huber then died from this gunshot wound,” the complaint said.
Grosskreutz, who had arrived when Huber came to live and froze when the victim was shot, raised his hands. The complaint states that Grosskreutz, who appeared to have a pistol, moved to Rittenhouse, who shot him once in the right arm. Grosskreutz then turned around and ran while calling for a doctor.
In videos of the incident, the suspect can then be seen, still armed, running to responding police vehicles, sometimes with his hands in the air. The police drive past him, and he then approaches a squad car before leaving.
Rittenhouse was arrested Wednesday in Antioch, Illinois. A hearing there is scheduled for Friday morning.
Rittenhouse’s attorney decided the charges. “This young boy was not only attacked on the streets of Kenosha, he has been attacked in the media and social media all over the damned world,” L. Lin Wood told CBS News. “It’s wrong. He’s a 17-year-old boy. He was not there to cause trouble, but he found himself threatened with his life and he had the right to protect himself with self-defense and now he finds himself accused of murder. “
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