Bruce Kelley Jr.’s family wants justice nearly two years after his death
Homeless, mentally ill, and under the influence of alcohol, Bruce Kelley Jr. just wanted to be left alone—as he told the small army of Port Authority of Allegheny County police attempting to arrest him nearly two years ago after an earlier alleged fight with two officers in Wilkinsburg. He waived a small knife at them to make his point as he tried to walk away from them on the afternoon of Jan. 31, 2016.
But the officers didn’t leave him alone. Instead, Sgt. Brian O’Malley sicced a dog on him, and after Kelley fatally slashed the animal while defending himself, O’Malley and Officer Dominic Rivotti shot him seven times—twice in the back.
The dog, Aren, received an officer’s funeral, complete with a motorcade that shut down city streets. Kelley’s family had to solicit donations from the community to cover his funeral expenses.
Now, nearly two years later, Noah Geary, the attorney for Kelley’s estate, has filed a federal civil rights case charging the Port Authority, its police force and O’Malley and Rivotti with wrongful death and excessive use of force. He announced the lawsuit at a Dec. 11 press conference in his Washington County office.
Geary said that police—from the initial encounter onward—escalated the situation, leading to the death of the dog and Kelley’s shooting, which he said was entirely unnecessary.
“Instead of simply de-escalating the interaction, the defendants and their fellow officers escalated the situation,” he said in the complaint. “Furthermore, the K-9 dog is dead not because of Kelley, but because the defendants mishandled the situation badly…Defendants O’Malley and Rivotti used unreasonable, excessive, deadly force by shooting Kelley in the back repeatedly and killing him.”
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