Philly Cop Who Shot Man Sitting In Vehicle To Be Fired

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police officer who shot and killed a 27-year-old man with schizophrenia who was sitting in a vehicle when he was shot will be fired, authorities said Wednesday.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw Wednesday said officer Mark Dial will be fired after a 30-day suspension.

Dial is the officer who shot and killed 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry on the 100 block of East Willard Street the afternoon of Monday, Aug 14.

Outlaw said the suspension and termination were due to Dial's violation of various department policies, such as insubordination and a lack of cooperation in the department's administrative investigation.

Dial's suspension and termination do not come from the shooting itself, Outlaw said.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office is investigating the potential criminality of Irizarry's killing.

Charges have not been filed as of Wednesday.

The announcement of Dial's firing comes a day after new video of the deadly incident was released by Irizarry family attorney Shaka Johnson.

Cameras on Willard Street captured the moment Dial fatally shot Irizarry.

Video footage clearly refutes the initial account police gave of the shooting, which was that Irizarry, who emigrated from Puerto Rico eight years ago and has lived in Philadelphia since, was outside the vehicle and lunged at officers while armed with a knife when he was shot.

Police later recanted that story, saying Irizarry was seated in a Toyota Corolla when he was fatally shot.

"We know that that is a patent lie," Johnson said about the initial statement from police. "That is a fabrication. It didn't happen that way at all."

Johnson alleged police intentionally misled the public about the incident.

"I respectfully reject and rebuff the attempt to clean things up that came on Tuesday," he said.

Outlaw Wednesday categorized the "lie" as "misinformation."

"It was unfortunate," she said. "Once it was brought to our attention that that was misinformation that was put out there, we corrected it.

"We didn't have to do that," Outlaw said.

According to police, the incident began at about 12:28 p.m. Monday when officers tried to stop a Toyota Corolla on B Street near Westmoreland after seeing the vehicle drive erratically.

The vehicle turned on Westmoreland, then left onto Lee Street, and finally left onto Willard Street heading against traffic, police said.

Eventually, the vehicle pulled into a parking spot in the middle of the block.

The two officers who were in a marked patrol vehicle got out and approached the Corolla.

New video showed the officers get out of the SUV, both with guns drawn.

Dial went up to the driver's side, and the other to the passenger's side, with one officer trying to open the passenger door, police said.

That officer told Dial that the driver, later identified as Irizarry, had a weapon, police said.
One is heard shouting "show me your hands" and "He's got a f***ing knife" in the new video.
Also heard on the video were "don't move" and "I'll f***ing shoot you" as Dial is seen running up to the driver's side window.

Johnson said Irizarry does not speak English.

Irizarry, police said, turned toward Dial, and that's when Dial shot six times into the vehicle through the rolled up driver's side window and windshield, fatally striking Irizarry.

The new video shows the officers shot Irizarry within 10 seconds of getting out of their patrol vehicle.

Dial and the other officer are seen in the video pulling Irizarry from the vehicle and putting him into their vehicle before driving off.

Irizarry was taken to Temple Hospital, where he was pronounced at 12:48 p.m.

Police said they found two knives in the Corolla.

According to the department, both officers had their body cameras on during the incident.

Irizarry's family and Johnson released the video after they were denied the opportunity to watch the body camera footage privately, according to Johnson.

Johnson Tuesday said Irizarry had never had a negative encounter with police and that he had never been arrested.

Irizarry has battled with schizophrenia and other diagnoses for years. Johnson said schizophrenia runs in Irizarry's family.

Mayor Jim Kenney called the shooting a tragedy during Wednesday's news conference.