POLICE BRUTALITY

Philly Cop Charged With Murder After Point-Blank Shooting

The case has incited protests, particularly after it was revealed that police had given a false account of what had happened.

The Philadelphia cop who shot and killed a man sitting in his car at point-blank range turned himself in to police Friday morning to face murder charges. The case has incited protests over the PD’s handling of the situation as it was revealed that authorities had given a false account of what had happened. Police initially said that 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry had “lunged” at Officer Mark Dial with a knife on August 14, leading Dial to fire his gun. But body-camera footage later revealed that Irizarry had never moved from his car seat and did not raise his pocket knife when Dial shot at him mere seconds after arriving at the scene. Dial’s attorney, Brian McMonagle, said the officer heard someone yell that Irizarry had a gun. But Shaka Johnson, the Irizarry family’s lawyer, stated that the video clearly shows Dial telling Irizarry to “drop the knife.” It’s the fourth time District Attorney Larry Krasner has charged a cop over an on-duty shooting since 2018. Before Krasner was in office, prosecutors had not filed such charges in nearly 20 years.