[ad_1]
The family of a black man killed by Philadelphia police officers in a shooting captured on video in the United States had called for an ambulance to help him with a mental health crisis, not for police intervention, his lawyer said.
Police said 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr was holding a knife and ignored orders to drop the gun before officers fired on Monday afternoon. But his parents said Tuesday night that officers knew their son was in a mental health crisis because they had been to the family home three times Monday.
Cathy Wallace, her mother, said one of the times, “They stood there and laughed at us.”
Matt Slocum / AP
Hundreds of protesters marched in West Philadelphia over the death of Walter Wallace, a black man who was killed by police in Philadelphia on Monday.
The Wallace family’s attorney, Shaka Johnson, said the man’s wife, Dominique Wallace, is pregnant and is scheduled to induce labor on Wednesday. Johnson said Wallace had nine children: Two spoke briefly at a news conference Tuesday night, along with Walter Wallace’s mother and father.
READ MORE:
* Shooting Breonna Taylor ‘was not a question of race,’ says officer in first public interview
* The Black Lives Matter movement is deep for Tall Fern Tessa Boagni
* Two US police officers fired amid Breonna Taylor protests.
“When you come to a scene where someone is in a mental breakdown and the only tool you have to deal with is a gun … where are the right tools for the job?” Johnson said, arguing that Philadelphia police officers are not properly trained to handle mental health crises. Johnson said Wallace’s brother had called 911 for medical assistance and an ambulance.
About 500 people had gathered in a park in West Philadelphia on Tuesday night (local time) and began marching through the neighborhood, singing. There were sporadic reports of arrests in other areas of the city on Tuesday night around 9 p.m.
Matt Slocum / AP
Police shot and killed the 27-year-old on a Philadelphia street after yelling at him to drop his knife, sparking outrage.
The video showed people breaking into stores and stealing goods as they left on the opposite side of town from where Wallace was shot. The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management tweeted around 9:30 pm. Tuesday, warning residents in East Philadelphia to stay indoors.
In Washington, the White House issued a statement just before 1 a.m. M. From Wednesday in which he claimed that the riots were another consequence of the “war of the Liberal Democrats against the police” and that the Trump administration “proudly supports law enforcement and is willing, upon request, to deploy all and every one of the federal resources to put an end to these riots. “
“Law enforcement is an incredibly dangerous occupation, and thousands of officers have given their lives in the line of duty,” said the statement from press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “All incidents of deadly force must be thoroughly investigated. The facts must be followed wherever they lead to ensure fair and equitable results. In America, we resolve disputes through the courts and the justice system. We can never allow the Mafia rule. “
Matt Slocum / AP
Philadelphia police get into position during a march to protest the Walter Wallace Jr. shooting.
Philadelphia officials had anticipated a second night of rioting Tuesday, after Philadelphia police arrested more than 90 people during protests and riots that began Monday and lasted into the early hours of Tuesday morning. sometimes turning into violent clashes with the police. Police were stationing additional officers in commercial corridors in West Philadelphia and other locations in preparation.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania National Guard said The Philadelphia Inquirer Earlier Tuesday several hundred guards were expected to arrive in the city within 24 to 48 hours.
Police had previously said 30 officers were injured in the Monday night riots, most of them hit with thrown objects such as bricks. An officer was still hospitalized Tuesday with a broken leg after being intentionally hit by a van, police said.
Matt Slocum / AP
Protesters confront the police during the march Tuesday night.
Throughout the day Tuesday, state and local officials called for transparency and a thorough investigation, including the release of body camera images of the two officers who fired their guns.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference Tuesday that she was still reviewing when and what information would be released to the public. The officers had not been interviewed as of Tuesday afternoon, he said. Neither man had a taser or similar device at the time of the shooting, Outlaw said, noting that the department had requested funds to equip more officers with those devices.
Outlaw said the officers’ names and other identifying information, including their race, would be withheld until the department could be sure that releasing the information would not pose a threat to their safety. The officers were removed from service on the street during the investigation.
Police officers said they could not confirm what information the responding officers had been given, whether they were informed of possible mental illness or how many calls they had received asking for help at Wallace’s address on Monday. Police Chief Inspector Frank Vanore confirmed that police had received a call before Monday’s fatal encounter about a man screaming and saying he was armed with a knife.
Matt Slocum / AP
The two officers involved in the shooting fired at least 14 shots.
The two officers each fired at least seven rounds, at least 14 shots in total, but Vanore couldn’t say how many times the 27-year-old Wallace was hit.
Wallace’s father, Walter Wallace Sr., said Tuesday night that he is haunted by the way his son was “massacred.”
“It’s in my mind. I can’t even sleep at night. I can’t even close my eyes, ”he said.
In a video filmed by a passerby and posted on social media, officers yell at Wallace to drop a knife. In the video, Wallace’s mother and at least one man follow Wallace, trying to get him to listen to the officers, as he quickly walks down the street and between cars.
Wallace advanced on the officers, who then fired multiple shots, police spokeswoman Tanya Little said. Wallace’s mother screams and throws something at an officer after her son is shot and falls to the ground.
José F. Moreno / AP
Attorneys for the Wallace family, Shaka Johnson, left, and Kevin P O’Brien, right, speak to the media outside the home of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia.
The video doesn’t make it clear if he was actually holding a knife, but witnesses said he was. Police did not confirm any details about the weapon Wallace allegedly had on Tuesday, saying it is still part of the open investigation.
Wallace was hit in the shoulder and chest, Little said. An officer took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after, he said.
During Monday’s riots, police cars and garbage containers caught fire as officers struggled to contain the crowd. More than a dozen officers, many with batons in hand, formed a line as they raced down 52nd Street, dispersing most of the crowd.
In at least one video posted on social media, an officer can be seen appearing to arrest a young black woman. A white officer throws the woman to the ground, lying with her back against her, and beats her repeatedly.
Matt Slocum / AP
Tensions are high in Pennsylvania after the shooting.
Police did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment or details about the incident. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office urged people with concerns about misconduct or crime during the protest to report those issues to the office’s special investigations unit.
The 52nd Street corridor was also the scene of protests against police brutality in late May, after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. Those protests have been the subject of hearings in the City Council, in which protesters described harsh and unnecessary tactics, such as tear gas and projectiles fired by police.
