On Monday, West Philadelphia police fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. ten times at point-blank range whilst his mother tried to intervene.
Only a few months after the killing of George Floyd and the revolt of the BLM movement, a 27-year-old black man, Walter Wallace Jr., was murdered at the hands of two Philadelphia police officers.
On Monday afternoon, police were sent to an incident in Cobbs’ Creek. Wallace, a man with a known mental health condition, was said to be experiencing an episode and holding a knife, and police were called to deescalate the situation. However, once on the scene, the police used excessive force, shooting nearly 10 rounds of bullets, resulting in Wallace’s death.
In harrowing video footage released to Twitter, Wallace’s last moments before he hit the ground were caught on camera. The footage depicts Wallace’s mother by the wayside, desperately trying to diffuse the situation. As Wallace approaches police with a knife, they let off a cacophony of shots with an entourage of spectators watching in shock.
WARNING: the below tweet contains distressing footage.
Philadelphia cops fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. today, firing 10+ times at him while he stood at least 10ft away. 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! pic.twitter.com/U2zYGqK7Ag
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) October 27, 2020
“Y’all didn’t have to give him that many fucking shots,” the person recording the video says.
Public anger surged after the incident, with racial tensions in America already at an all-time high. Hundreds of outraged protestors took to the streets overnight, pushing back against police brutality. The protests saw a dynamic display of rage, from the overturning of a dumpster to the arson of police cars, as civilians demanded to be heard.
Police car on fire at 52nd Street now. pic.twitter.com/7iVCoLVGPf
— Samantha Melamed (@samanthamelamed) October 27, 2020
Police involved with the shooting have been put on desk duty, with charges yet to be laid.
