Hundreds took to the streets of Philadelphia for a second night of protests over the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr, a 27-year-old black man.
Members of Wallace’s family appealed on Tuesday for calm as a second night of protests over his death flared on the fringes into violent clashes between demonstrators and police, both in Philadelphia and New York.
Wallace Jr was described by relatives as suffering from a mental breakdown, but a call for help ended in a deadly confrontation with law enforcement after reports that the man had a knife.
Marchers demanded racial justice as the killing became the latest flash point in the United States amid months of largely peaceful protests reinvigorating the Black Lives Matter movement against structural racism, killings and racist policing.
About 500 people gathered at a West Philadelphia park on Tuesday night and began marching through the neighborhood, chanting and demanding the names of the officers who opened fire.
The demonstrations came as Wallace Jr’s family said they had called for an ambulance to get him help with a mental health crisis, not for police intervention.
Police said Wallace Jr was wielding a knife and ignored orders to drop it before officers fired shots on Monday afternoon.
But his parents said on Tuesday night that officers knew their son was in a mental health crisis because they had been to the family’s house three times on Monday.
Catherine Wallace, his mother, said one of the times, “they stood there and laughed at us”.
The Wallace family’s attorney, Shaka Johnson, said the man’s wife, Dominique Wallace, was due to give birth this week. Two of Wallace Jr’s nine children briefly spoke at a news conference late on Tuesday, along with his mother and father.
“When you come to a scene where somebody is in a mental crisis, and the only tool you have to deal with it is a gun … where are the proper tools for the job?” Johnson said, arguing that Philadelphia police officers were not properly trained to handle mental health crises. Johnson said Wallace Jr’s brother had called 911 to request medical assistance and an ambulance.
Police said the shooting had occurred just before 4pm as officers responded to a report of a person with a weapon. Video footage of the incident shows multiple shots being fired at Wallace Jr, bringing him to the ground on a residential street in front of horrified onlookers.
Hours later on Monday, protests erupted. Interactions between protesters and police turned violent at times.
The civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said Wallace Jr was shot “10+ times”.
He wrote on Twitter: “He allegedly had a knife but cops made NO attempts at de-escalating the situation in this video. They went straight to killing Wallace in front of his loved ones.” On Tuesday afternoon the video had been viewed over one million times.
The dead man’s father, Walter Wallace Sr, appealed to people to “stop the violence” out of respect for his son and family.
“I don’t condone violence, tearing up the city, looting of the stores, and all this chaos,” he told reporters and a gathering of supporters.
“It’s an SOS to help, not to hurt.”
He also called for justice in a case still being investigated.
The Democratic nominees for president and vice-president, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, stated they felt “shock and grief … especially for a community that has already endured so much trauma”.
“Our hearts are broken for the family of Walter Wallace Jr, and for all those suffering the emotional weight of learning about another Black life in America lost. We cannot accept that in this country a mental health crisis ends in death,” Biden and Harris said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“It makes the shock and grief and violence of yesterday’s shooting that much more painful, especially for a community that has already endured so much trauma. Walter Wallace’s life, like too many others’, was a Black life that mattered.”
Police said the two officers, who were wearing body cameras, fired “several times”.
The police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, said an investigation into the fatal shooting was under way and that video footage of the incident “raises many questions”.
She added: “Residents have my assurance that those questions will be fully addressed by the investigation. While at the scene this evening, I heard and felt the anger of the community. Everyone involved will forever be impacted.”
Philadelphia’s mayor, Jim Kenney, said: “My prayers are with the family and friends of Walter Wallace. I have watched the video of this tragic incident and it presents difficult questions that must be answered.”
The mayor said he had spoken to Wallace Jr’s family, adding: “I look forward to a speedy and transparent resolution for the sake of Mr Wallace, his family, the officers, and for Philadelphia.”
Video of the fatal confrontation recorded by a bystander and posted on social media showed officers pointing their guns at Wallace as he walked in the street and around a car. He walked toward the officers as they backed away from him in the street, guns still aimed at him. They yelled at him to put his knife down.
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