BREAKING: A jury has found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts in his murder trial connected to the shootings of three people during unrest in Kenosha during the summer of 2020. Details here.
Screams were heard as gunshots rang out in the streets of Kenosha late at night on Aug. 25, 2020, leaving two people dead and a third hospitalized as protesters appeared to rush an alleged gunman.
Video posted to social media showed shots ringing out in the street before a man was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses were seen carrying that man to a hospital.
In a separate scene, a group of protesters were heard following a man, later identified as Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse, shouting "Why'd you shoot him."
Moments later, video taken by a photographer at a nearby scene showed Rittenhouse, armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, sitting on the ground and opening fire into the crowd around him. A man in the crowd was shot in the arm. A third man was seen in the footage unmoving on the ground before authorities arrive and carry him away.
LIVE COVERAGE: A live feed of Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial is available when court is in session.
Photos that also captured that shooting appeared to show a man kicking Rittenhouse before another man with a skateboard appears to grab the teen's weapon. The man with the skateboard was the same man seen lying on the ground not moving in the video.
A witness, Julio Rosas, 24, said that when the gunman stumbled, "two people jumped onto him and there was a struggle for control of his rifle. At that point during the struggle, he just began to fire multiple rounds, and that dispersed people near him.”
“The rifle was being jerked around in all directions while it was being fired,” Rosas said.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Photos: Images Show Traumatic Scene as Gunfire Erupts in Kenosha During Another Night of Unrest
Authorities confirmed three people were shot, two fatally, as unrest gripped the Wisconsin city for the third straight night following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The two people killed were identified as 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, of Kenosha, and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, of Silver Lake. Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a protester from West Allis, Wisconsin, was wounded.
Huber was the man seen swinging a skateboard at Rittenhouse before he was shot. Grosskreutz had a gun in his hand as he stepped toward Rittenhouse and was shot.
Before the shooting, the conservative website The Daily Caller conducted a video interview with Rittenhouse in front of a boarded-up business.
“So people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business,” the young man said. “And part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle -- because I can protect myself, obviously. But I also have my med kit.”
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said people believed to be in a "militia" or "vigilante group" had been patrolling the streets at night.
Photos from the scene showed multiple citizens armed with weapons as the unrest unfolded. Some stood outside area businesses and others were seen in the streets.
A group calling itself the "Kenosha Guard" had earlier posted a call on social media asking "Any patriots willing to take up arms and defend [our] City tonight from the evil thugs?" Facebook ultimately took down the group's page for violating its policy against militia organizations.
"There's no way. There's no way I would deputize people," Beth said.
But video taken before the shooting showed police tossing bottled water from an armored vehicle to what appear to be armed civilians walking the streets, including Rittenhouse.
“We appreciate you being here,” an officer is heard saying to the group over a loudspeaker.
Beth argued that "our deputies would have tossed a water to anybody."
Still, in the moments after the shooting, there were reports Rittenhouse walked toward police with his hands in the air, yet he was not arrested.
When asked why he was not arrested in the moment, Beth said he couldn't say for certain, but noted the chaos surrounding officers that night.
"I've been in a shooting before and in situations that are high stress you have such an incredible tunnel vision," he said.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he made the short trip north from his home in Illinois, just across the Wisconsin border, during protests that broke out after a white police officer shot Blake, a Black man.
Rittenhouse, of Antioch, faces two homicide counts, one of attempted homicide and two of recklessly endangering safety for firing his weapon near others. He's also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
A trial for his case began Monday with jury selection.
Now 18, Rittenhouse faces life in prison if he's convicted of first-degree homicide, one of several charges against him.
The case has been polarizing, with Rittenhouse painted by his backers as a patriot exercising self-defense and Second Amendment gun rights. Others see him as a vigilante and police wannabe who never should have been armed in Kenosha in the first place. Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot, but many are watching his trial as the latest referendum on race and the American legal system.
