Pitt files response to Rose suit

Michael Rosfeld, a former East Pittsburgh police officer, will stand trial beginning this week for fatally shooting 17-year-old Antwon Rose last June. At the same time, a lawsuit, which revolves around the shooting and the question of who could have prevented it, continues to develop.

Rose’s parents filed the lawsuit against Pitt in December alleging the University was responsible in part for the shooting because it failed to discipline Rosfeld for misconduct when he worked as a Pitt Police Officer from 2012 to 2018. The lawsuit further claimed that Rosfeld was hired by East Pittsburgh because Pitt didn’t note these missteps on Rosfeld’s record, including the circumstances of his firing.

In a new court filing from Pitt’s lawyers, Pitt disputed the allegations and said East Pittsburgh never requested a copy of Rosfeld’s file for review before hiring him in June 2018, as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“The university properly documented Rosfeld’s work performance while he was employed by the university,” Pitt said in the filing. “East Pittsburgh did not request from the university a copy of Rosfeld’s employee file. East Pittsburgh hired Rosfeld without reviewing Rosfeld’s employee file maintained by the university.”

Rosfeld arrested three men outside the Garage Door Saloon in Oakland in December 2017 on charges that were later withdrawn due to a lack of corroborating evidence. He was suspended two days later and fired on Jan. 18, 2018.

Two of the men, students Jacob Schilling and Timothy Riley, sued Pitt and Garage Door in July 2018, saying the arrest was unjust. They dropped the lawsuit in December. The third person arrested, Daniel Humphrey, is the son of Kathy Humphrey, Pitt’s Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement.

The Rose shooting occurred only hours after Rosfeld was sworn in as an East Pittsburgh police officer that June.