Questions linger in Pittsburgh Police shooting of Justin Jackson

The more information that comes out about the police shooting of 19-year-old Justin Jackson, the less straightforward events appear. If Jackson showed police his hands—holding a gun, as they said—then how did he shoot through his jacket as the medical examiner reported? And if, as the expanded report released May 14 indicates, the officers were just three feet away when they set Alf the police dog on Jackson—the report said he had bite marks—could they not have simply grabbed him instead of shooting him multiple times? Jackson’s father has yet another question: if the police dog had his son by the right arm, how did the right-handed young man shoot at officers and kill the dog? Potters House Ministries Bishop Otis Carswell, who eulogized Jackson at his May 12 funeral, may have an answer. As he told friends and mourners, Carswell repeated to the New Pittsburgh Courier that he “saw no gun.”

He said he and his wife were driving along Arlington Avenue when he saw a young man sitting on a wall talking to a police officer while another officer with a dog observed from a few feet away.

“I slowed down as we passed and tried to keep an eye on it through the rear-view mirror,” he said. “Then I heard four or five shots, but didn’t see who fired or where they came from. I parked, ran back and saw Justin on the ground and the dog lying in front of him. It only took seconds and I saw no gun on the ground or in his hand.”

Almost instantly, Carswell said, the street “became chaos” with more officers arriving and shooing people from the scene. They seemed far more interested in clearing the street than finding witnesses, he added.

“My wife said, ‘Aren’t you going to see if there are any witnesses?’ We stood by two kids, 7- or 8- years-old, who said they saw everything, but they were gone when the police got to us,” he said. “We gave our statement to the Pittsburgh police, but we haven’t been contacted by the (Allegheny) County police—who I understand are conducting the investigation—or the district attorney’s office. No one’s talked to us since that night.”

County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said he is overseeing just a portion of the investigation and the district attorney is doing the bulk of the work. He said investigators have the statement Carswell made to city officers.

“As I recall he said he didn’t see the shooting,” said Moffatt. “But if the DA says go talk to this guy we will, or he could just have his own investigators do it.”

Carswell’s description of police ignoring or failing to secure witness statements is reminiscent of the account given by George Wilson, who told the New Pittsburgh Courier and several television stations that the police and the district attorney repeatedly dismissed his account of his girlfriend, Cheryl Wilds’ Nov. 21, Thanksgiving eve shooting on the North Side, including the number and directionality of the gunshots.

Several people have suggested an open inquest be convened to answer any lingering questions in the Jackson case, especially since it is a police-involved homicide. No such inquest has been scheduled nor has one been held since a judge ruled only District Attorney Stephen Zappala and not then-Coroner Cyril Wecht, had the authority to conduct inquests. [MORE]