Two days after a Philadelphia police officer fatally shot a 27-year-old man in Kensington, new questions have emerged about the moments leading up to the shooting.
Police had first said Eddie Irizarry got out of his car with a knife and “lunged” at police, before one officer shot him multiple times, killing him. But on Tuesday night, the department provided an updated account of the shooting, saying that Irizarry was seated in his car when they shot him, and never lunged at officers with a weapon.
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The new narrative has sparked questions and concerns from the public and Irizarry’s family on what led to the officer shooting Irizarry multiple times.
“Why would you shoot when there is no gun?” the victim’s father and namesake, Eddie Irizarry, asked Monday. “Police need to follow the rules, they need to respect people.”
Here’s what you should know about Irizarry’s death and the updated account.
What did police initially say happened?
Around 12:30 p.m. Monday, two officers with the 24th Police District encountered Irizarry “driving erratically” near B Street and Erie Avenue in Kensington, according to Cpl. Jasmine Reilly, a department spokesperson.
Reilly initially said that when the officers attempted to pull him over, Irizarry fled in his gold Toyota Corolla. They followed him south until he stopped on East Willard Street. As officers approached the stopped car, police initially said Irizarry stepped out with a knife. The officers gave “multiple commands” for him to drop the weapon, Reilly had said, but he did not. He then “lunged” at the officers, she said, and one officer shot him multiple times.
What is the new narrative?
On Tuesday night, police revised their narrative, saying Irizarry did not flee a traffic stop, and was sitting in his car when the officer shot him.
According to the new statement, the officers observed Irizarry “driving erratically” near B and Westmoreland Streets, but did not attempt to pull him over, and instead followed him as he drove south. Irizarry then pulled the wrong way onto the 100 block of East Willard Street, and parked his car.
The officers then got out of their patrol car and approached Irizarry’s car from both sides, police said. As one officer approached the driver’s side of the car, the second attempted to open the passenger side door. One officer then alerted his partner that “the male had a weapon.”
As Irizarry turned toward the officer on the driver’s side, that officer then shot Irizarry multiple times. The statement said that “two knives were observed inside the vehicle.”
The officers then carried Irizarry to their cruiser and rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he died shortly after, at 12:48 p.m.
Police said they recovered a kitchen knife and a folded serrated knife inside the car.
But Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw declined to say whether Irizarry was holding the knife or had threatened police with it. She also declined to share the length of the interaction or to say whether the officer ordered Irizarry to drop the weapon before firing. She said Irizarry was shot “several” times but declined to specify the number of shots fired or how many times he was struck.
Coulter said it was unclear whether the officers turned their emergency lights or sirens on before getting out of their cruiser. She said by the time backup arrived a few minutes later, the lights were not on.
Video posted on Instagram of the moments immediately after the shooting appeared to show the officers pulling Irizarry out of the driver’s side of the Toyota, and there appeared to be a bullet hole in the car’s windshield.
Who is the officer who shot Irizarry?
Police said the officer’s name would be released on Thursday. They said he was a five-year member of the department, and has has been placed on restricted duty pending the outcome of the department’s internal investigation.
The officer has not yet been interviewed. It is standard protocol, she said, that officers involved in shootings receive 72 hours to retain counsel before being interviewed.
Who is Eddie Irizarry?
Irizarry’s aunt Zoraida Garcia said her nephew was shot six times.
She said he’d been known to carry a pocket knife, but she doesn’t understand how or why he would try to use it on police.
Irizarry had struggled with mental health issues, including schizophrenia, she said, but that he was “no harm.”
“My nephew was no harm to anyone,” Garcia said Wednesday. “Never been incarcerated. Don’t even have a traffic stop ticket in his record.”
He had moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about seven years ago, she said, but did not speak or understand English.
“If the officer was saying anything to him in English, I’m quite sure that he didn’t even understood what was going on,” she said.
Garcia said the family has received little information on what happened. At Temple Hospital Monday afternoon, they were not allowed to see Irizarry and were told only that he was shot, she said.
“We need answers,” she said.
She said the family has hired criminal defense attorney Shaka Johnson.
Were the officers equipped with Tasers and body worn cameras?
Police said both officers were wearing body cameras that were activated during the interaction. Both officers were equipped with Tasers and trained to use them.
Why was the initial police account so different?
Outlaw the initial information shared was “generated internally,” and that officials are “backtracking” to find out how the details came together. She said they always emphasize that preliminary information is subject to change.
She said they did not learn of the inaccuracies until they reviewed the officers’ body camera footage.
“Obviously it was different than what we were led to believe when we got to the scene,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Coulter.
Outlaw vowed transparency as the department continues to investigate, and said the District Attorney’s Office was heading an independent investigation.
“I understand the reticence, I understand folks not really being sure whether or not they should even trust what we are saying today because of what we said initially,” she said. “But I’m hoping that they see this is a genuine effort to do everything we can to share what we know when we have it.”
How many Philadelphia police officers have Tasers?
As of Aug. 15, about 3,800 officers — or about 71% of the force — are equipped with the stun guns. Once officers are issued Tasers, they are required to carry them.
What’s the history of PPD and Tasers?
Philadelphia Police came under scrutiny for the department’s limited supply of Tasers after the October 2020 death of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man who was shot and killed by police outside his West Philadelphia home at a time when his family said he was having a mental health crisis. Wallace was armed with a knife and the officers who responded to the 911 calls placed by his family were not equipped with Tasers.
On the day Wallace was killed, about one-third of the city’s police officers were equipped with Tasers.
In the weeks that followed, Wallace’s family demanded reforms, saying the officers’ lack of nonlethal options during the confrontation contributed to his death. They sued the officers, Sean Matarazzo and Thomas Munz Jr., for allegedly using unreasonable force, and the city for failing to equip its officers with the stun guns, as had been recommended after a 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
On the year anniversary of Wallace’s death, the city agreed to spend $14 million to equip all patrol officers with Tasers within five years.
The department has said it is on track to meet that 2026 deadline, though the process has moved a bit slower than expected due to coronavirus-related guidelines and a staffing shortage that limits the number of officers who can be sent to training at one time.
What are the department’s policies on use of force?
Under Pennsylvania law, officers are justified in using deadly force if a person is attempting to escape and has “committed or attempted to commit a forcible felony” or possesses a deadly weapon.
Philadelphia Police Department directives say the use of deadly force should “be employed only in the most extreme circ*mstances and [after] all lesser means of force have failed or could not be reasonably employed.” Officers must have an “objectionably reasonable belief” that there is “immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury.”
It’s ultimately up to officers’ discretion, the policy reads: “The amount of force, the continued use of any force, and the type of police equipment utilized, all depends upon the situation being faced by the officer.”
