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You know I feel like an idiot.  I thought of Chivas Regal when I read the topic.  

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Maybe the kid had illegal pre-ban donuts and was carry a Glock in a poorly made holster?

SGtar15

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I'm in the Pgh area and heard this on the news last night. Had a preacher on and such. Guess he was a good kid just made a bad decision. As far as I can tell the incident happened in the afternoon? Shooting supposedly happeded during a foot chase nd the officer "accidently" shot the kid in the back. Unfortunate someone at the age of not making the wisest decisions, 12yrs old, won't be able to learn from this one. I've heard it was a neighbors car he took. I must admit I'm guilty of takig a car without permission while under age. Granted it was always a relatives vehicle and I never got caught, but I think getting shot in the back is a bit extreme.

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he was a good kid just made a bad decision.

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is his head really all screwed up like that? wow what a freak.

but let me see here, steal a car, get shot for trying to get away, sounds reasonable

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you're kidding ... running from cops dosen't merit deadly force. If that was the case, then people would be shot by cops all the damn time.

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is his head really all screwed up like that? wow what a freak.

but let me see here, steal a car, get shot for trying to get away, sounds reasonable

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well bobcole...
maybe next time when he is running away in a car maybe he will kill you or a family member...then come back and post.

Fayette boy shot in back by cops

By Matthew Junker
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, December 27, 2002

Two days after police shot and killed 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe, an autopsy confirmed his family's contention that the boy was shot in the back as he ran from a vehicle in a Uniontown alley on Dec. 24.

A woman who identified herself only as Rene, Ellerbe's stepmother, said police told her that her son was shot in the back.

"They said that the only shots fired were by police," she said Thursday.

"I don't even want justice. I want the truth," said Michael Hickenbottom, the boy's father.

Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly told Hickenbottom that an autopsy in Pittsburgh yesterday confirmed the entrance wound was in the child's back. The bullet passed through Michael's heart, causing his death.

State police would not comment on which trooper fired the fatal shot until ballistics tests are done to match bullet fragments taken from the child's body to a gun.

The state police have put troopers Juan Curry and Samuel Nasssan on administrative duty pending completion of an investigation into the 2:30 p.m. shooting.

State police have not released any additional information, including whether authorities believed Ellerbe was armed.

According to police, Ellerbe was driving a stolen vehicle when he encountered police.

He allegedly crashed the vehicle in the alley between Cleveland and Murray avenues, then fled on foot. He was shot during the foot pursuit and was pronounced dead at The Uniontown Hospital.

Hickenbottom said he was told the chase involved a truck, but he did not believe his son knew how to drive. "To me, it's ridiculous that he was driving a truck and driving it so good that the chase lasted over a mile," he said.

Reilly said he plans to convene an inquest into the shooting on Jan. 29.

"Because of the various (conflicting) reports of the shooting, I will hold an inquest," he said.

Following the autopsy, which was performed by Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht, Reilly said Ellerbe was "lean, lanky and a little bit tall" and added that he could probably pass for 15 years of age. Hickenbottom said he thought his son was about 5-foot-3.

Remembering his son yesterday, Hickenbottom sobbed, saying, it "destroyed" him when he saw his son's body on a hospital table.

"I need some answers. I just don't know what went on," the boy's father said.

Rene said her stepson was a good boy.

"Michael wasn't a bad kid, and that car wasn't stolen," she said.

According to Rene, the vehicle was driven by another person, and Ellerbe was along for the ride. She said the owner, whom she did not name, reported the vehicle stolen when it was not returned on time.

Ellerbe attended New Direction School, a church school located in Perryopolis, Fayette County.

Tina Whitehead, who taught Ellerbe in an after-school program, said he was respectful.

"He's a nice kid with an impish grin - he liked to tease. We trusted him. He shoveled our walk and mowed our lawn last summer," she said.

Ellerbe had been living with his father in Uniontown for about two years since moving from his mother's home in South Carolina. Hickenbottom's mother, Mary Gibson, described her grandson as a sixth-grader who had a short attention span but was polite and helpful.

"He was a very pleasant child," Gibson said, after opening the Christmas present the boy had gotten for her: a picture frame which she said will hold a photo of him.

District Attorney Nancy Vernon said she is awaiting results of the investigation before making any comment.

"Other than the fact that it's a very tragic event and it's under investigation, I have nothing to say at this time," she said.