White Philadelphia Ex-Cop Charged With Murder in 2017 Fatal Shooting of Black Man

A white former Philadelphia police officer was charged with murder Friday for the fatal shooting of a Black man nearly three years ago. Eric Ruch, Jr. shot Dennis Plowden, Jr. after a chase that ended in the latter crashing his car and falling bleeding from the driver’s seat. Plowden was unarmed. Ruch, who was fired from the department 10 months after the shooting, is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of an instrument of crime. The grand jury that reviewed the case wrote, “Ruch intentionally fired on Dennis Plowden less than 20 seconds after the Hyundai he had been driving crashed at nearly 80 miles an hour, Mr. Plowden had fallen to the ground, and yet was still attempting to obey commands.” The police union has vowed to defend Ruch against the charges.