'I want the truth,' says father of boy shot by police
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- An autopsy Thursday showed that a 12-year-old boy who died after a police chase was shot in the back, leaving his family with questions as to what happened.
"I don't even want justice. I want the truth," said Michael Hickenbottom, whose son, Michael Ellerbe, was shot and killed following what police said was a stolen vehicle chase Tuesday afternoon in Uniontown, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Family and neighbors remembered Ellerbe as a polite boy who loved video games and Jackie Chan movies. His father had bought him a drum machine for Christmas, a present that was still in its box Thursday.
According to state police, two troopers -- Juan Curry and Samuel Nassan -- chased Ellerbe after he crashed the vehicle and tried to run away Tuesday. During the foot chase, shots were fired and Ellerbe was struck. He died later at a hospital in Uniontown.
On Wednesday, Ellerbe's family began to ask questions, saying they had heard the boy had been shot in the back by police. On Thursday, Fayette County Coroner Phillip Reilly told the boy's father that an autopsy showed that Ellerbe had been shot in the back and killed when the bullet struck his heart.
Reilly said the bullet exited through the boy's chest.
State police -- who have placed Curry and Nassan on administrative leave pending an investigation -- refused to discuss the shooting Thursday and have not released any additional information, including whether authorities believed Ellerbe was armed or what kind of vehicle was involved.
The boy's father said he was told the chase involved a truck, but he did not believe Ellerbe knew how to drive.
"I need some answers. I just don't know what went on," the boy's father 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, despite having a short attention span, was polite and helpful.
Ellerbe attended New Direction School, a church school in Perryopolis, Fayette County.