Philadelphia man fatally shot by police

Police fatally shot a Philadelphia man early yesterday in his home after responding to a report of a domestic dispute, police said.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said two officers answered a call for help in the 6000 block of Lawndale Avenue in the city's Lawncrest section. When they arrived, a man there began to fight with the officers and grabbed one officer's baton.

"At some point, a knife came into play," Vanore said, stating that only preliminary information was available and that it was unclear where the knife came from or what role it played.

One of the officers then fatally shot the man, who, Vanore said, appeared to be intoxicated. He said the dead man's identity and the names of the officers were not immediately available.

It was the second fatal police shooting in a week, and the third of the new year.

On Jan. 12, an off-duty officer killed 15-year-old William Smith, a ninth-grader at Imhotep Institute Charter School.

Smith, whose mother, father, and three other relatives are police officers, allegedly had been involved in shooting another youth at Broad Street near Chew Avenue.

The off-duty officer had witnessed the shooting and chased Smith, who reached for his waistband, according to police. The off-duty officer then shot him.

A week earlier, police fatally shot Secundino Rivera, 59, in his home in the 2900 block of Kip Street in the Kensington section of the city.

In that case, police said, the owner of the home called police because Rivera - a tenant - had threatened to kill himself.

When police arrived, they said, Rivera had a butcher knife in each hand, held them to his chest, and threatened to stab himself.

Police ordered Rivera to drop the knives, they said, but he lunged at them. An officer then shot him in the chest.