Unrest and tension gripped the city of Philadelphia starting Monday night after police officers shot and killed a 27-year-old mentally-ill Black man brandishing a knife, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
A police car arrived at the house Walter Wallace, Jr. shared with his parents Monday evening to find Wallace standing on front porch holding a knife. The officers immediately drew their weapons, and Wallace’s mother stepped in front of him to restrain him.
Wallace walked past his mother and onto the sidewalk as police back into the street. After Wallace walked between cars, he crossed the street and circled a car on the other side of the street with his mother behind him.
Wallace walked back out into the street and held the knife at shoulder height, about ten feet away from the officers, who then fired at least 13 shots, hitting Wallace ten times from at least ten feet away. Wallace made no sudden moves toward the officers.
People can be heard in a video of the shooting telling officers that “he’ll drop [the knife]” and apparently trying to inform officers that Wallace was mentally ill.
The officers loaded Wallace into their police car and took him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Maurice Holloway watched the entire scene from the porch of his aunt’s house across the street.
“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,’” said Holloway, 35. “He turns and then you hear the shots. They were too far from him; it was so many shots.”
By nightfall, unrest had swept through neighborhoods of the city. One police car was set on fire, and a police officer was struck by a truck speeding through a neighborhood and was taken to a hospital with a broken leg.
Another 30 reported minor injuries from projectiles thrown by protestors. Philadelphia police did not mentioned if cans of tuna or soup were among the projectiles.
More than 200 people marched through West Philadelphia, causing property damage. There were some reports of looting.
“My prayers are with the family and friends of Walter Wallace,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Monday night. “I have watched the video of this tragic incident and it presents difficult questions that must be answered. I spoke tonight with Mr. Wallace’s family, and will continue to reach out to hear their concerns firsthand, and to answer their questions to the extent that I am able.”