OFFICER CHARGED IN FATAL SHOOTING IN PHILLY
Philadelphia police officer was charged with murder after he fatally shot a 27-yearold man who was in his car at near point-blank range, prosecutors announced Friday, weeks after top police officials announced that bodycamera footage of the killing showed a different account than what the officer initially described.
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, the officer, Mark Dial, was charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment of another person and official oppression in the shooting death of Eddie Irizarry, prosecutors said at a news conference Friday.
Dial fatally shot Irizarry around noon Aug. 14 after what police initially said was a car chase ending in Irizarry lunging at them with a knife. But police officials said two days later that body-camera footage showed that the man was still in his car when the officer shot him. The fatal shooting and changing account sparked community anger and protests.
In an unusual move, Judge Christian DiCicco of Philadelphia Municipal Court set bail for Dial at $500,000.
Family members have deA scribed Irizarry as a quiet man who liked to work on motorcycles and was being treated for serious mental illness, including schizophrenia. He had moved to Philadelphia about seven years ago from Puerto Rico and had difficulty understanding English, his family said.
Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney, said at a news conference that “the videos speak for themselves,” describing the body-camera footage, which was released to the public Friday.
Dial, 27, a five-year veteran of the department who was suspended from the Police Department in August with intent to dismiss, turned himself in to police Friday morning. He was expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said.
Lawyers for Dial could not immediately be reached, but Brian McMonagle, a lawyer for Dial, told reporters outside a precinct building in Philadelphia on Friday that the decision to charge his client with murder was “appalling.”
“This decision today puts police officers in peril at a time when they’re dealing with perhaps the most violent time in our city’s history,” he said.