May 7, 2008 9:09 pm US/Eastern
Family Searches For Answers After Shooting
MT. OLIVER (KDKA) ―
Pittsburgh Police are clarifying details surrounding the fatal shooting of a suspect by police in Mt. Oliver.
Chief Nate Harper now says 19-year-old Justin Jackson was allegedly firing at the police officers and they did not realize the dog had been shot until later.
Harper also adds that Jackson had a stolen .357 magnum that was reported missing after a 2006 burglary in Elliot.
While the suspect's family believes authorities went too far, Chief Harper says the officers acted within proper guidelines.
Ulf, a six-year veteran police dog - was killed. Investigators say a bullet found in the slain dog matched the stolen gun.
Jackson died at the scene.
As their son lay dead on the street, Jackson's parents tried to console each other - their anger surfacing in periodic flashes of rage.
"Because the dog got shot and my son was there and so they shot my son - execution style," Donald Jackson told KDKA. "My son's brains [are] laying all over the concrete and the officer's going to say to me, 'Well, our dog got killed, so your son got killed.'
"This type of mentally has to be stopped - it has to be," Jackson added.
The family was hoping that a video camera mounted on the UPMC Center on Arlington Avenue would have some indication of what happened last night recorded on tape.
But sources tell KDKA's Ralph Iannotti that the camera was either not on or not functioning properly at the time of the shooting.
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