'I shot two white kids': Accused Kenosha shooter to face homicide charges in Wisconsin

WAUKEGAN, Illinois – An Illinois judge on Friday ordered Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to be extradited on homicide charges.

The judge denied the teen's request for release and he was transported to Kenosha County Jail on Friday afternoon, a sheriff's spokesman said. He had been in custody in an Illinois juvenile facility since turning himself in. Rittenhouse's legal team has said he acted in self-defense and should not be charged with any crime.

The move occurred the same day court records were released which provide new details about how Rittenhouse's arrest unfolded and what he said happened that night.

Less than two hours after the shooting, Rittenhouse walked into the Antioch, Illinois, police station "visibly upset" and told an officer he had "ended a man's life," the records say.

The teen went to his hometown police station with his mother shortly before 1:30 a.m. Aug. 26. He did not have any weapons with him.

Rittenhouse told officers he had been hired to protect a business in Kenosha and had to protect himself. The owner of the business, Car Source, has told the Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, that he did not hire anyone to act as armed security.

The teen told Antioch police he had tried to turn himself in to an officer in Kenosha but was told to go home.

Police requested firefighters come to the station for a medical check of Rittenhouse, who had small scratches on his arm but no bruising or cuts.

While waiting for medical help, Rittenhouse stated: "I shot two white kids."

An Antioch officer watched Rittenhouse as they waited for Kenosha detectives to arrive and noted the teen cycled through a range of emotions, from crying fits to periods of calm to throwing up.

Hours later, Rittenhouse began having trouble breathing so police called firefighters again. Soon after that, Rittenhouse was booked as a fugitive from justice on the Kenosha warrant for first-degree intentional homicide and was taken to a juvenile detention center.

'That's the shooter': Witnesses describe the night Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire in Kenosha

Watch: Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, being charged as an adult for shooting 3 people at Kenosha protests

The records also shed new light on how Rittenhouse obtained the gun used in the shooting.

The assault-style rifle used in the shooting was purchased by an 18-year-old friend of Rittenhouse, and police found it in the trunk of the friend's car later that morning. Neither Rittenhouse nor his mother had a permit for a gun in Illinois.

Rittenhouse told Antioch police his 18-year-old friend had the rifle in the trunk of his car. The Journal Sentinel is not identifying the man because he has not been charged with any crime.

Antioch police met the man at Rittenhouse's apartment and he confirmed the rifle was in the trunk. The man was with Rittenhouse's two sisters who said they feared for their safety after receiving messages from people about the shooting.

The man told an officer he had been with Rittenhouse in Kenosha. He was armed with a gun on the roof of a business and did not see the shooting.

Rittenhouse called his friend at some point after the shooting.

The man said he disassembled his own gun to put in his backpack, picked up Rittenhouse and then put both rifles in the trunk where police later found them.

​​​​​​​In a police interview, the friend said Rittenhouse gave him money to buy the rifle at an Ace Hardware in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, and it was to be used only while hunting up north at the friend's family's property. In the meantime, it was stored at the friend's stepfather's house in Kenosha.

Gun trace records confirmed the man had purchased both rifles at stores in Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse did not use the rifle in Illinois and the firearms crossed state lines in a manner "not immediately accessible" to either Rittenhouse or his friend, the reports say.

The newly released documents come as Rittenhouse's defense team hopes to appeal his extradition. A lawyer on Rittenhouse's defense team tweeted earlier that they would appeal any adverse decision by Novak.

Friday's hearing — attended by more than a dozen reporters from media outlets nationwide — was a letdown of sorts. Lead defense attorney John Pierce had earlier filed a notice that he planned to call four expert witnesses and Rittenhouse's mother as witnesses relevant to constitutional claims the defense hopes to raise.

But Pierce started off by saying he and his co-counsel had reconsidered their strategy and would instead "laser focus" on the legal sufficiency of the extradition papers.

Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Scheller argued that that was all that ever could be at issue in a summary proceeding like extradition. Rittenhouse, he said, is free to raise constitutional claims of self-defense and the thoroughness of the investigation behind the complaint — once he gets to Wisconsin.

Pierce disagreed, citing Illinois case law he said clearly supports his position that extradition must fail because of how the Kenosha County criminal complaint was signed.

Toward the end of his legal argument, Pierce said, "I do believe, from the bottom of my heart, that this is a political prosecution," which led to an objection from Scheller.

Pierce said his comment was aimed not at anyone in the courtroom, but "at high-ranking officials in both states," who, he thinks, should be aware the prosecution is a fraud.

Rittenhouse, 17, appeared in court in a light blue shirt and dark tie, led into the room by three sheriff's deputies in tactical gear. Like everyone, he wore a face mask. He had very little interaction with Pierce and Andrew Calderon, another lawyer from Pierce's Los Angeles law firm, during the hearing.

Since his arrest following the Aug. 26 shootings, Rittenhouse has become a cause célèbre in certain conservative circles. The night before his first court appearance last month, his mother and Pierce got a standing ovation at a meeting of Waukesha County Republicans when introduced by conservative commentator Michelle Malkin.

While he and other armed men said they were guarding Kenosha businesses, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz. The shootings were caught on video that Rittenhouse's lawyers say show he acted in self-defense in each instance.

Although Rittenhouse raised his arms and walked toward police to surrender after the shootings, they ignored him, and he went home Antioch, Illinois, where he was arrested the next morning.

The unrest in Kenosha followed the police shooting two days earlier of Jacob Blake, 29, a Black man, by a white Kenosha police officer, which was also captured on video. The officer fired seven times at Blake's back, and the shots left him paralyzed.

That shooting was investigated by the state Department of Justice, whose report is now under review by former Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, who is acting as a consultant to Graveley, who will decide whether the officer, Rusten Sheskey, should face criminal charges.

Follow Bruce Vielmetti on Twitter: @ProofHearsay.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Kenosha on homicide charges