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Community members are calling for a Philadelphia police officer to be fired after an attorney representing the family of a man who was fatally shot by police released video Tuesday that contradicts the initial narrative of the deadly encounter given by police.
Police initiallysaid a man later identified as 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry got out of his car after a brief car chase on Aug. 14. Police said Irizarry had a knife and lunged at officers prior to the fatal shooting. Two days later, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw walked back that story and told reporters body camera footage “made it very clear what we initially reported was not actually what happened.”
That footage has not yet been released publicly, and Irizarry family attorney Shaka Johnson told reporters Tuesday the family has not been able to view it. But, Johnson said, he and the family were able to obtain surveillance video of the incident, which shows an officer shooting into the driver’s side of Irizarry’s vehicle seconds after getting out of his police vehicle.
Johnson, who also represented the family of Philadelphia police shooting victim Walter Wallace Jr., said he and the Irizarry family believe “there was an intentional misleading of the public.”
“What about what you just saw could ever be confused as he got out of the car and lunged at police officers?” Johnson asked at a news conference Tuesday. “Not a single thing. That was an out and out, flat out lie.”
What does the video show?
Surveillance video released by Johnson shows Irizarry driving over orange traffic cones as he pulls into a parking spot. Seconds later a police vehicle pulls up next to his car. Two officers get out, draw their weapons and approach both sides of Irizarry’s car.
The officers tell Irizarry to show them his hands as Irizarry appears to roll his window up. Then the officer on the driver’s side, later identified as Mark Dial, appears to fire his gun into the car multiple times.
The officer runs back toward the patrol car and reports that shots have been fired. The officers then attempt to open the doors of Irizarry’s vehicle.
What did police say about the shooting?
Outlaw said two officers spotted a Toyota Corolla “driving erratically” and followed the vehicle until it drove the wrong way down a one-way street and parked. She said the officer who approached on the passenger side attempted to open the door and alerted the officer on the driver’s side that the man inside had a weapon.
Outlaw said the man “turned towards” the officer on the driver’s side who then fired his weapon multiple times. The driver was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead, she said. Two knives were found inside the vehicle, a kitchen-style knife and a serrated folding knife, according to Peter Marrero, a detective who is investigating the shooting.
Officials said the initial narrative that was reported was called into police radio and the body camera footage later contradicted that account. Outlaw said police gave “the best information that we had available,” at the time.
“I understand and want to acknowledge the hurt and confusion that family and community members can experience when details of investigations change, and especially when they change in a very public way,” Outlaw said.
‘We need answers,’ family member says
Irizarry’s family told the Philadelphia Inquirer he came to the city from Puerto Rico seven years ago and he did not speak or understand English. Outlaw told reporters last week she did not know if there was a language barrier between the officers and the driver.
Johnson said Irizarry had no criminal record and struggled with schizophrenia. He said Irizarry, a mechanic, carried a pocket knife that he used for work.
”We need answers. Why?” Zoraida Garcia, Irizarry’s aunt, told the newspaper. “Why is this officer still at home? He murdered my nephew.”
Calls for officer to be fired, charged investigation ongoing
Outlaw promised a “fair and thorough” investigation will take place, but acknowledged the difficulty of regaining the public’s trust. She said her department is conducting a criminal investigation and working in parallel with the district attorney’s office.
“Once we get a clearer picture. I will be able to say with certainty and make a determination whether or not they operated within policy of the department,” Outlaw said.
Irizarry’s family and friends gathered on the street where he was killed Tuesday again demanding that Dial be charged and they be allowed to view the body camera footage, the Inquirer reported. The city’s Citizens Police Oversight Commission, an independent agency, said its members have been monitoring the investigation into the shooting and have recommended the department terminate Dial.
Anthony Erace, the commission’s interim executive director, told USA TODAY this marks the first time the commission has recommended the firing of an officer in its nearly year-long existence. He said the recommendation was made before he viewed Johnson’s video and agreed it is a “fairly big step.”
Erace said while the commission will be investigating the circumstances that led to the police department initially releasing incorrect information, he believes the department tried to be transparent quickly.
“There’s a difference between wrong and rotten, right?” he said. “If you’re asking me if I think it was a conspiracy to conceal information from the public, I don’t think that it was.”
The oversight commission is hosting a virtual public meeting Wednesday night for “concerned community members.” Meanwhile, Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney are expected to hold a press conference Wednesday.
Kenney said in a statement to CBS the city is “committed to the integrity of the ongoing investigations.”
“My thoughts are with the family of Eddie Irizarry as they grieve the loss of their loved one, and we know there are a lot of questions yet to be answered,” he said, declining to comment further.
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