UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A white state police trooper who shot and killed a 12-year-old black boy during a chase has accepted a transfer amid complaints that he wasn't charged in the boy's death.

Trooper Samuel Nassan accepted a transfer shortly after he shot Michael Ellerbe in the back during a foot chase on Dec. 24, said state police Capt. Roger Waters.

Nassan and his partner, Juan Curry, have been cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting in Uniontown, about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. They remain on administrative duty pending an investigation by state police and a civil rights investigation by federal prosecutors and the FBI.

Nassan testified in January that he shot at the boy because he thought his partner, trooper Juan Curry, had been shot.

Curry testified that his gun had accidentally gone off as he crossed the fence while chasing Ellerbe, suspected of stealing a vehicle.

Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said the shooting was justifiable and, following a recommendation from a coroner's jury, decided not to pursue charges.

The case sparked protest in Uniontown's black community, and a lawyer for Ellerbe's family has said he wants to know if race played a role in the shooting. Ellerbe was black and Nassan, white. Curry is black.

The lawyer, Joel Sansone, has also filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against the two police troopers, claiming they intentionally shot at the boy.

Last month, about 300 people marched to the Fayette County Courthouse for a rally and activists delivered some 1,000 letters to Vernon demanding she reopen the case. Some have also called for Vernon, the local state police commander and the county coroner to resign.

Waters, of the state police, said Nassan's transfer to an undisclosed station near his hometown was intended to avoid retaliation against the trooper.

State police have received no threats against Nassan, Waters said, but "we wanted to make it didn't happen. There's always a possibility."

Curry, meanwhile, has opted to stay in Uniontown, his hometown, Waters said.