A 15 year-old boy died due to smoke inhalation after a SWAT raid in New Mexico led to a house fire. Albuquerque PD acknowledged that a powder irritant they dropped in the house may have played a role
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- A 15-year-old boy died due to smoke inhalation after a SWAT team raid in New Mexico, police said.
- Police claim they didn't fire a single weapon and gave the adult suspect and boy chances to leave.
- Eventually, a drone dropped powder irritants inside the house – it's unclear if that started the fire.
A 15 year-old boy died due to smoke inhalation during a SWAT team raid in Albuquerque, New Mexico last week.
Brett Rosenau, a Black teenager, died after a suspect barricaded himself in a house that caught on fire during the raid, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a statement on Sunday.
The home was destroyed and a dog was also killed in the fire, according to The Albuquerque Journal. The department claimed that no weapons were fired during the ordeal.
"The preliminary results of an autopsy cited the cause of death as smoke inhalation and also confirmed that Rosenau was not shot by anyone, as some bystanders alleged at the scene," APD said in a statement, adding that a full toxicology report would be released soon.
Police said that suspect, Qiaunt Kelley, was wanted for armed carjacking charges, and claimed that when the SWAT team arrived at the house he was staying at, Kelley barricaded himself inside with Rosenau.
"In our effort to track down and arrest a violent criminal, a young person tragically lost his life," APD Chief Harold Medina said in a statement. "If any of our actions inadvertently contributed to his death, we will take steps to ensure this never happens again."
APD claimed that no weapons were fired by their personnel, but Medina acknowledged that the fire may have been caused by devices that dropped powder irritants inside the home to get Kelley and Rosenau outside.
Police said they noticed smoke billowing from the house and entered to find Kelley alive and Rosenau dead. Kelley was taken to a hospital to receive treatment for burns, according to authorities.
Last week, APD posted on Twitter saying that "false information" was spreading about what transpired during the raid and that "no officers fired their weapons."
—APD Public Information Officer (@APD_PIO) July 10, 2022
They added that they gave the individuals "multiple opportunities" to exit before releasing the powders.
"We have used them [the powder irritants] hundreds of times w/out incident. We acknowledge the possibility that one of these devices may have contributed to the fire. AFR's arson investigation will determine the cause of the fire," APD tweeted.
Protestors gathered Thursday night, with signs that read "Black Lives Matter," The Albuquerque Journal reported.
"They didn't save a life and they burned down a family home that we can't get back," Elizabeth Fields, who said her sister owns the home where the raid took place, told The Journal. "They said, 'Well, we were trying to negotiate,' it's 2022! These are Black men that fear the police. You really thought you were going get them to come out the house?"
Albuquerque PD did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.