Kenosha Shooter Kyle Rittenhouse Charged with Murder, Life in Prison Possible
Kenosha 'Vigilante' Shooter Allegedly Killed Unarmed Man ... Charged with Murder, 4 Other Felonies
The 17-year-old arrested in the fatal shooting of 2 Jacob Blake protesters in Kenosha allegedly killed at least one unarmed man, and could get life in prison for murder ... along with 4 other felony charges.
The criminal complaint against Kyle Rittenhouse was released Thursday, and it says the first person the Illinois teenager allegedly shot, Joseph Rosenbaum, "appeared to be unarmed for the duration of video" reviewed by investigators.
Prosecutors say Rosenbaum appeared to throw an object at Rittenhouse before the fatal shooting, and a second video apparently shows the object in question was nothing more than a plastic bag.
The complaint also says Rosenbaum leaned in toward Rittenhouse -- apparently trying to reach for his gun according to a witness -- and then fell to the ground after 4 loud bangs. Then Rittenhouse got on his cellphone to make a call, and prosecutors say he was overheard saying, "I just killed somebody" as he ran away. He's been charged with first-degree reckless homicide for Rosenbaum's death.
Rittenhouse is also charged with first-degree intentional homicide (murder in most states) of Anthony Huber. Prosecutors say Huber -- seen with a skateboard in several videos -- approached Rittenhouse, who was lying on his back, and appeared to reach for Rittenhouse's gun. According to the complaint, Rittenhouse fired a round, sending Huber staggering away before collapsing to the ground and dying from a gunshot wound.
All told, prosecutors charged Rittenhouse with 5 felonies -- the 3 others are 2 counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
That last count was for allegedly shooting Gaige Grosskreutz, who prosecutors say appeared to be armed, and suffered one non-lethal gunshot wound.
If convicted, Rittenhouse could face life in prison just for the first-degree intentional homicide of Huber. He's also facing one misdemeanor ... for possession of a dangerous weapon by someone under 18.