Philadelphia police have been the focus of protests since two officers shot and killed 27-year-old Walter Wallace in West Philadelphia on Monday. Video of the incident went around social media, showing the confrontation between officers and Wallace, that ended with the two police officers shooting no less than 10 shots at Wallace from about 10 feet away. Wallace’s mother, on the scene, trying to de-escalate the situation, runs over to her son, screaming and throwing her handbag at one of the officers.
The news and video of police officers, unable to de-escalate a situation with a member of the Black community, leading to execution-style death, has led to protests and aggression in the streets of Philadelphia. Overnight, news reports of confrontations between police and protesters filled the airwaves. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has said she called for an investigation into the shooting, while Mayor Jim Kenney who said that "I have watched the video of this tragic incident and it presents difficult questions that must be answered.”
According to police, the officers were responding to reports of a man with a knife. When they arrived they “witnessed a male on the block. Immediately they noticed he had a knife in his possession and he was brandishing it, and waiving it erratically." According to witnesses, they had pleaded with Wallace to drop the knife but Wallace was clearly having some kind of crisis at the time. A video of the final moments of the confrontation was taken by a bystander, who can be heard remarking at how surreal everything unfolding in front of him is.
In the short video, Wallace is clearly agitated, while a woman, identified later as his mother, attempts to calm him down, chasing after him and he walks around cars, crossing the street. The officers can be heard telling Wallace to put “the knife down,” as they keep a distance from Wallace. As the police officers back up into the middle of the street, Wallace emerges from between two parked cars, and then, as the officers step back, a series of shots from their firearms can be heard. Wallace collapses to the ground. His mother runs out screaming. The officers walk over, as people from the neighborhood run over to the fallen Wallace.
Walter Wallace Sr., the deceased man’s father, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his son had mental health issues and took medication. “Why didn’t they use a Taser?” According to Maurice Holloway, a witness to the events, Wallace was on the porch of his home, with a knife. People in the neighborhood were out and trying to talk with Wallace to get him to put the knife down. However, when police arrived they immediately took out their firearms. From there, the situation deteriorated, with Wallace’s mother attempting to shield her son and get him to drop the weapon, while officers trained their gun on Wallace as he became more agitated.
The two officers involved have not yet been identified, and were supposedly taken off of street duty until an investigation events is completed.
Warning: The video below is violent and graphic.