Newly released bodycam video shows the moment Philadelphia police gunned down 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr. last month after telling him to drop a knife he was holding.
City officials on Wednesday released the footage and audio of 911 calls from the Oct. 26 shooting, which sparked widespread protests and riots.
The video shows Wallace exiting a house, with a blade in his right hand, and the cops telling him to “put the knife down now.”
People in the background yell what sounds like “he’s mental” to the officers, as Wallace continues walking on the street outside his home.
Family members have said they called 911 for help as Wallace was going through a mental health crisis.
In one of the 911 recordings released Wednesday, a woman tells the dispatcher that her brother is hitting her parents. She says her brother has a history of violence and requests a medic for her parents.
The footage shows Wallace moving between cars and into the street where the two officers have their guns drawn.
A woman can be seen running out of the house and trying to grab Wallace, as he shakes her off and the cops yell at her to stand back.
Other people also appear to try to stop Wallace, as the cops continue telling him to put the blade down.
One officer can be heard saying “shoot him” before both cops fire off several rounds and Wallace falls to the ground.
“You killed my son!” wails the woman, as she runs over to Wallace before throwing an object at one of the officers.
Bystanders turn Wallace over, and the video shows him lying on his black with blood on his chest and a brief flash of a knife lying on the pavement next to him.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw on Wednesday said the shooting is still under investigation, but that the evidence was being released “in the spirit of transparency to show we’re not hiding anything.”
She also identified the two patrol officers who opened fire on Wallace as Officers Sean Matarazzo, 25, and Thomas Munz, 26. Neither had more than three years of experience in the department.
The local Fraternal Order of Police released a statement defending the cops, and decried Mayor Jim Kenney’s use of the term “police violence” to describe the footage released Wednesday.
“The real violence was perpetrated by a knife-wielding man, who confronted our police officers,” President John McNesby said in a statement. “These officers followed their training and police department policy. It’s completely inappropriate that these officers continue to be vilified for doing their job.”
A lawyer for the family has said they do not want the cops charged with murder because they believe the officers lacked the proper training and equipment.
“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?” Shaka Johnson said last week.
With Post wires