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Protestors Pressure Authorities To Hold Accountable Officers Who Shot And Killed A Man

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A group of protestors gathered outside Baltimore Police Department headquarters on Saturday to demand justice for 18-year-old Donelle Rochester who was shot and killed by officers in February.

This is the second day in a row that the protestors have taken to the streets to draw attention to the man's death. Now, they're demanding action.

The protestors marched to police headquarters from Morgan State University, which is where many of the organizers of the rally are enrolled as students.

They want the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Rochester to be held accountable for their actions and arrested for what happened in Northeast Baltimore.

Those officers attempted to pull over and detain Rochester on Feb. 19. He had an open warrant at the time.

Rochester tried to flee from police in a Honda Accord before they shot him in the 3200 block of Hillen Road, Harrison said.

Police say that at one point Rochester drove toward the officers, which is when one of the officers shot into the car.

Police body camera video shows that there was a second officer running on the sidewalk who fired his weapon into the vehicle too, Harrison said.

"What we saw on bodycam video just a few minutes ago is that there were two officers one on each side one at the [driver's side] door and passenger door, and one of our officers was approaching the front of the vehicle," Harrison said following the shooting. "The driver accelerated toward the officer who was in front of the vehicle, striking the officer as the officer was firing into the vehicle."

The officer's bullets struck Rochester. He was taken to a local hospital, which is where he died.

The police department had extra officers in Northeast Baltimore that day to specifically address some of the armed robberies and carjackings that had been occurring in the area, Harrison said.

Several of those officers work for what is known as the Metro Mobile Unit—a discretionary unit that can go anywhere in the city to help bolster police coverage in a specific area, he said.

Days after Rochester died, police released body camera video of the shooting.

That video is only propelling protestors to speak up louder and continue fighting for justice.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison defended the officers involved in the shooting.

"Our officers were in an area doing exactly what we asked them to do," he said.

Mayor Brandon Scott agreed with Harrison's assessment.

"Our officers were in this neighborhood today because of the armed robberies and carjackings that have been here over a period of time—where women and children, school children, have been robbed or carjacked," Scott said. "That's why they were here."

The officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to authorities.

Renee Joy, the deputy chief of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General's Independent Investigation Division, has launched an independent investigation into the shooting.

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