Philadelphia police officer fatally shoots man in Kensington
A Philadelphia Police officer fatally shot a man who police say lunged at officers holding a knife Monday afternoon.
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A Philadelphia police officer shot and killed a 27-year-old man on Monday afternoon in Kensington, police said.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., 24th District officers observed a car “driving erratically” in the area of B Street and Erie Avenue, said Cpl. Jasmine Reilly, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson. When officers tried to pull the driver over, he took off in the Toyota, heading south on Lee Street and then turning left heading the wrong way on East Willard Street, she said.
The man — identified by family as Eddie Irizarry — eventually pulled the car over, on the 100 block of East Willard Street, she said.
As officers approached the car, Reilly said, Irizarry stepped out with a knife. She said officers gave “multiple commands” for him to drop the weapon, but he did not. Instead, she said, he “lunged” at the officers. One of the officers then shot Irizarry several times.
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. The police carried him to their cruiser, then rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he died shortly after, at 12:48 p.m.
Reilly declined to comment on the video of Irizarry being pulled from the car.
She said both officers were equipped with Tasers but did not deploy them. At least one of the officers’ body-worn cameras was turned on, Reilly said.
Irizarry’s family rushed to East Willard Street on Monday afternoon, eager to speak with police about what happened before returning to Temple University Hospital. They were distraught but focused on trying to understand how the shooting unfolded.
Zoraida Garcia said her nephew was shot five 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 struggled with mental health issues, including schizophrenia, she said. He had moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about seven years ago, she said, but did not speak English well.
”We don’t have all the details, but there was video,” Garcia said. “My brother just wants justice for his son.”
The victim’s father and namesake, Eddie Irizarry, said he respects police, but “they need training.”
”Why would you shoot when there is no gun?” he asked. “Police need to follow the rules, they need to respect people.”
Police have not yet identified the officers involved. They will be on desk duty pending an investigation by the police department’s Officer Involved Shooting Unit and the District Attorney’s Office, Reilly said.
Irizarry is the third person to be fatally shot by a Philadelphia police officer this year. In May, officers shot and killed 32-year-old Curtis Smith in North Philadelphia after they said he pointed a gun at them following a brief chase.
One month later, in June, officers killed Dimitri Klimov, 36, after police said he holed up in the crawlspace of a Kensington rowhouse and was armed with a gun.
Earlier this month, FBI agents fatally shot Tahiem Weeks-Cook, 22, in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood. And earlier this year, a Pennsylvania State Trooper shot and killed 18-year-old Anthony Allegrini Jr. on I-95.