Philadelphia protesters take to streets for second night after police killing
Hundreds took to the streets of Philadelphia for a second night of protests over the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old black man.
About 500 people gathered at a West Philadelphia park on Tuesday night and began marching through the neighborhood, chanting and demanding the names of the officers who opened fire.
The demonstrations came as Wallace’s family said they had called for an ambulance to get him help with a mental health crisis, not for police intervention.
Police said Wallace, 27, was wielding a knife and ignored orders to drop the weapon before officers fired shots on Monday afternoon. But his parents said on Tuesday night that officers knew their son was in a mental health crisis because they had been to the family’s house three times on Monday.
Catherine Wallace, his mother, said one of the times, “they stood there and laughed at us”.
The Wallace family’s attorney, Shaka Johnson, said the man’s wife, Dominique Wallace, was due to give birth this week. Two of Walter Wallace’s nine children briefly spoke at a news conference late on Tuesday, along with his mother and father.
“When you come to a scene where somebody is in a mental crisis, and the only tool you have to deal with it is a gun ... where are the proper tools for the
job?” Johnson said, arguing that Philadelphia police officers were not properly trained to handle mental health crises. Johnson said Wallace’s brother had called 911 to request medical assistance and an ambulance.
Police said the shooting had occurred just before 4pm as officers responded to a report of a person with a weapon. Video footage of the incident shows multiple shots being fired at Wallace, bringing him to the ground on a residential street in front of horrified onlookers.
Hours later on Monday, protests erupted. Interactions between protesters and police turned violent at times, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Video showed many yelling at officers and crying. Cars and dumpsters were set on fire as police struggled to contain the crowds. More than a dozen officers, many with batons in hand, formed a line as they ran down 52nd Street chasing protesters away.
Thirtyofficers were injured, most struck by projectiles such as bricks and rocks, according to preliminary information from police, and 91 people were arrested. One officer was hospitalized in stable condition with a broken leg and other injuries after she was struck by a pickup truck, police said. The other injured officers were treated and released.
The city had braced for another night of unrest on Tuesday, with police deploying more officers and asking the national guard to assist them.
“Several hundred guardsmen” from the national guard were expected to arrive in the city within the next two days, according to the Inquirer.
There were sporadic reports of arrests in other areas of the city Tuesday night around 9pm local time, as well as video of people streaming into stores and stealing goods as they left.
The civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said Wallace was shot “10+ times”.
He wrote on Twitter: “He allegedly had a knife but cops made NO attempts at de-escalating the situation in this video. They went straight to killing Wallace in front of his loved ones.” On Tuesday afternoon the video had been viewed over one million times.Police said the two officers, who were wearing body cameras, fired “several times”.The police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, said an investigation into the fatal shooting was under way and that video footage of the incident “raises many questions”.
She added:
“Residents have my assurance that those questions will be fully addressed by the investigation. While at the scene this evening, I heard and felt the anger of the community. Everyone involved will forever be impacted.”
Philadelphia’s mayor, Jim Kenney, said: “My prayers are with the family and friends of Walter Wallace. I have watched the video of this tragic incident and it presents difficult questions that must be answered.”
The mayor said he had spoken to Wallace’s family, adding: “I look forward to a speedy and transparent resolution for the sake of Mr Wallace, his family, the officers, and for Philadelphia.”
A police spokeswoman, Tanya Little, said officers were called to the Cobbs Creek neighborhood and encountered the man later identified as Walter Wallace, who was holding a knife. Officers ordered Wallace to drop the knife, but he instead “advanced towards” them.
Both officers then fired “several times”, Little said. Wallace was hit in the shoulder and chest. One of the officers then put him in a police vehicle and drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, Little said.
Video of the fatal confrontation recorded by a bystander and posted on social media showed officers pointing their guns at Wallace as he walked in the street and around a car. He walked toward the officers as they backed away from him in the street, guns still aimed at him. They yelled at him to put his knife down.
Both then fired several shots and Wallace collapsed. A woman ran up to him screaming. Several bystanders then approached him.
It is unclear in the video if he had a knife. Witnesses said he was holding one.
No officers or bystanders were injured, Little said. The names of the officers who fired the shots were not immediately disclosed. Both were wearing body cameras and were taken off street duty pending investigation.
Some witnesses spoke with Outlaw, who arrived at the scene a short time after the shooting occurred.
The shooting occurred in a predominantly black neighborhood in west Philadelphia.
Maurice Holloway, a witness, told the Inquirer he was on the street talking to his aunt when police arrived. He said Wallace had a knife and was standing on his porch and that police officers immediately drew their guns.
He said Wallace’s mother followed him as he walked down the porch steps holding a knife and tried to shield him, telling police he was her son.
“I’m yelling, ‘Put down the gun, put down the gun,’ and everyone is saying, ‘Don’t shoot him, he’s gonna put it down, we know him,’” Holloway, 35, told the newspaper.
Wallace then walked behind a car and came out again, said Holloway, who said there were multiple shots.
Police arrested about 20 people relating to looting, the Inquirer reported, and detained 10 people overnight.
The district attorney, Larry Krasner, said: “The Philadelphia district attorney’s office takes its obligation to try to be fair and to seek even-handed justice seriously. The DAO special investigations unit responded to today’s fatal shooting of a civilian by police shortly after it occurred, and has been on scene with other DAO personnel since that time investigating.”
Krasner urged any witnesses to come forward and encouraged the people of Philadelphia to “come together to uphold people’s freedom to express themselves peacefully and to reject violence of any kind”.