Police ID man officers killed last week in Mayfair
During a physical confrontation on Frankford Avenue, Officers Thomas Catalano and Christian Nguyen fired their guns, killing 26-year-old Jamir Cave, police said.
Philadelphia police on Tuesday identified the 26-year-old man officers fatally shot during a physical confrontation last week in the city’s Mayfair section.
Police also named the two officers who fired their guns, killing Jamir Cave. Police said Cave was armed with a knife.
One of the officers, Thomas Catalano, is assigned to the 15th District and has been with the force for 12 years, the department said Tuesday.
The second officer, Christian Nguyen, is a three-year member of the force and also assigned to the 15th.
The department offered an updated account of what the police said happened Friday afternoon.
At 2:46 p.m., the officers — both in uniform and separately driving marked patrol vehicles — responded to reports of a man attempting to open doors in the rear of properties along the 4100 block of Tyson Avenue, the department said.
Catalano spoke with a witness who described the man and reported seeing him try to open a house, a garage, and vehicle doors, the department said.
The officers then saw Cave on nearby Frankford Avenue and Nguyen exited his patrol vehicle to pursue him, the department said. Catalano soon joined the foot pursuit.
On the 7000 block of Frankford Avenue, Catalano caught up with Cave and a physical struggle ensued in front of a storage business, “during which the male was holding a kitchen-style knife in his right hand,” the department said.
According to the department, “A preliminary review of video evidence shows the male drawing back his right arm while holding the knife, with the blade pointed forward near shoulder height.” Catalano “attempted to create distance” and fell backward in the storage facility’s driveway. The man turned toward Nguyen, who backed away, before “turning back and advancing toward” Catalano with the knife as the officer tried to regain his footing, the department said.
Catalano and Nguyen both fired their weapons. Medics pronounced Cave dead at the scene. Police recovered the knife Cave allegedly wielded.
Catalano was treated at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital for an elbow injury, the department said. Nguyen was not injured.
Both officers had body cameras that recorded video of the shooting, the department said. Investigators also recovered surveillance video in the area and interviewed multiple witnesses, the department said.
Catalano and Nguyen have been reassigned to administrative duties while the shooting is investigated internally by the police and by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
In a 12-second video obtained Friday by The Inquirer, one of the officers and Cave can be seen struggling with one another.
The video was recorded by someone inside a car parked just feet away from the deadly shooting.
The officer appears to be trying to hold the man’s hands or arms, then falls to the ground as the Cave breaks free.
A second officer then appears in the video. As the man steps away from that officer and into an open area of the building, the second officer fires multiple shots and the man falls.
The first officer is seen falling backward away from the man and a second gun can be heard firing before the video ends.
6abc reported that family members said Cave had been suffering from mental health issues, and quoted his mother, Ebony Boyd, declaring: “My son was innocent; he was innocent.”
