The Lake County state’s attorney’s office announced on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 that no additional charges will be filed against Kyle Rittenhouse in connection to the gun he allegedly used when two people were shot and killed as a mob pursued him while he was armed during riots and arson crimes in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Antioch police determined that his rifle was purchased, stored and used in Wisconsin, which is not in violation of Illinois law, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. There is no evidence the gun was ever possessed by Rittenhouse in Illinois, prosecutors said.
Rittenhouse, age 17, surrendered at the Antioch Police Station a day after prosecutors say he shot and killed two protesters and injured a third in Kenosha on August 25, 2020 during protests over Jacob Blake’s shooting.
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of two protesters/rioters, and attempted intentional homicide in the wounding of a third. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of underage firearm possession for wielding a semi-automatic rifle in Wisconsin.
According to the Rittenhouse legal defense team, one of the rioters (Joseph Rosenbaum, the first shooting victim) was seen starting fires. Around the same time, Kyle Rittenhouse is seen running with a fire extinguisher toward fires that were set. The legal defense team says that a short time later, an enraged Joseph Rosenbaum chased Kyle Rittenhouse with a mob in the area. Rosenbaum was shot, but another shot was also fired in the vicinity. Rittenhouse fire four shots, then another three shots were fire. The legal defense team claims there is no confirmation that any of the Rittenhouse shots hit Rosenbaum.
As Rittenhouse was moving toward police, an armed mob chased him and the second victim that was shot and killed (Anthony Huber) had just struck Rittenhouse in the back of the head with the sharp edge of a skateboard before Rittenhouse shot him, according to his legal defense team.
Another rioter (Gaige Grosskreutz, the third victim) also described as a medic wearing a “Paramedic” baseball style cap, approached Rittenhouse faking a surrender — but was armed with a handgun. Grosskreutz suddenly charged forward toward Rittenhouse. Gaige Grosskreutz was struck by a single rifle shot to his right elbow and right biceps anatomical area and suffered a horrific disabling gunshot wound that almost caused the loss of his arm.
Rittenhouse remains held in a juvenile detention center in Lake County, Illinois without bond due to pending criminal charges in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse is due in Lake County court on October 30, 2020 for an extradition hearing.
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor