Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot man suspended after video contradicts initial account

Officials announced Wednesday that a Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot a 27-year-old man last week will be fired for administrative violations. The announcement comes after police walked back their initial narrative about the fatal encounter and the attorney representing the family of the victim released a video that contradicted that account.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Wednesday she has decided to suspend Officer Mark Dial for 30 days with the intent to dismiss him. Dial is not being terminated for fatally shooting Eddie Irizarry on Aug. 14, but for violating department policy related to the refusal to obey orders from a superior officer and failure to cooperate in any departmental investigation, Outlaw said.

Police initiallysaid last Monday that Irizarry got out of his car after a brief car chase with a knife and lunged at officers prior to the fatal shooting. Two days later, Outlaw told reporters that body camera footage "made it very clear what we initially reported was not actually what happened.”

On Tuesday, Irizarry family attorney Shaka Johnson released surveillance video of the incident, which showed an officer shooting into the driver's side of Irizarry's vehicle seconds after getting out of his police vehicle. Johnson, who also represented the family of Philadelphia police shooting victim Walter Wallace Jr., said he and the Irizarry family believe "there was an intentional misleading of the public."

"What about what you just saw could ever be confused as he got out of the car and lunged at police officers?" Johnson asked at a news conference Tuesday. "Not a single thing. That was an out-and-out, flat-out lie."

When asked about Johnson's comments, Outlaw said it's "understandable" that there's a lot of emotion involved in the situation, but she defended the department.

"Once it was brought to our attention that that was misinformation that was put out there, we corrected it and we didn't have to do that ... We discovered it ourselves and did what we could in a timely manner to make sure that that narrative was quickly addressed," she said.

What does the video show?

Johnson said he and the family were able to obtain surveillance video of the incident, which shows an officer shooting into the driver's side of Irizarry's vehicle seconds after getting out of his police vehicle.

Surveillance video released by Johnson shows Irizarry driving over orange traffic cones as he pulls into a parking spot. Seconds later a police vehicle pulls up next to his car. Two officers get out, draw their weapons and approach both sides of Irizarry's car.

The officers tell Irizarry to show them his hands as Irizarry appears to roll his window up. Then the officer on the driver's side, later identified as Mark Dial, appears to fire his gun into the car multiple times.

The officer runs back toward the patrol car and reports that shots have been fired. The officers then attempt to open the doors of Irizarry's vehicle.

What did police say about the shooting?

Outlaw said last week two officers spotted a Toyota Corolla "driving erratically" and followed the vehicle until it drove the wrong way down a one-way street and parked. She said the officer who approached on the passenger side attempted to open the door and alerted the officer on the driver's side that the man inside had a weapon.

Outlaw said the man "turned towards" the officer on the driver's side who then fired his weapon multiple times. The driver was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead, she said. Two knives were found inside the vehicle, a kitchen-style knife and a serrated folding knife, according to Peter Marrero, a detective who is investigating the shooting.

Officials said the initial narrative that was reported was called into police radio and the body camera footage later contradicted that account. Outlaw said Wednesday the source of the initial information is still under investigation and she's "looking forward to finding out what the answer is."

Outlaw previously said police gave the public "the best information that we had available," at the time.

“I understand and want to acknowledge the hurt and confusion that family and community members can experience when details of investigations change, and especially when they change in a very public way,” Outlaw said last week.

'We need answers,' family member says

Irizarry's family told the Philadelphia Inquirer he came to the city from Puerto Rico seven years ago and he did not speak or understand English. Outlaw told reporters last week she did not know if there was a language barrier between the officers and the driver.

Johnson said Irizarry had no criminal record and struggled with schizophrenia. He said Irizarry, a mechanic, carried a pocket knife that he used for work.

”We need answers. Why?” Zoraida Garcia, Irizarry’s aunt, told the newspaper. “Why is this officer still at home? He murdered my nephew.”

When will body camera footage be released?

Body camera footage has not yet been released publicly, and Johnson told reporters Tuesday the family has not been able to view it. The authority to release the footage to the family or the public lies with the Office of District Attorney Larry Krasner, according to Ava Schwemler, director of communications in the city's law department.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, told USA TODAY the office has been in contact repeatedly with the Irizarry family's legal counsel and "intends to keep its sworn obligation to seek justice for all those involved in the fatal shooting of Mr. Irizarry, as well as for all those Philadelphians who are not directly involved but who care deeply about fairness, justice, and independence."

"We will have more to say about this situation when we can do so consistent with preserving the quality and integrity of our independent investigation," she said in a statement. 

Calls for officer to be fired, charged investigation ongoing

Outlaw said the investigation into the shooting itself and the inaccuracy of the initial account is ongoing. She said Dial may face additional disciplinary charges if he violated additional department policies.

Outlaw again acknowledged the difficulty of regaining the public's trust. She previously said her department is conducting a criminal investigation and working in parallel with the district attorney's office.

"Once we get a clearer picture. I will be able to say with certainty and make a determination whether or not they operated within policy of the department," Outlaw said last week.

Irizarry’s family and friends gathered on the street where he was killed Tuesday again demanding that Dial be charged and they be allowed to view the body camera footage, the Inquirer reported. The city's Citizens Police Oversight Commission, an independent agency, said its members have been monitoring the investigation into the shooting and recommended the department terminate Dial.

Anthony Erace, the commission's interim executive director, told USA TODAY this marked the first time the commission has recommended the firing of an officer in its nearly yearlong existence. He said the recommendation was made before he viewed the video released by Johnson and agreed it was a "fairly big step."

Erace said while the commission will be investigating the circumstances that led to the police department initially releasing incorrect information, he believes the department tried to be transparent quickly.

"There's a difference between wrong and rotten, right?" he said. "If you're asking me if I think it was a conspiracy to conceal information from the public, I don't think that it was."

The oversight commission is hosting a virtual public meeting Wednesday night for "concerned community members." At the city news conference Wednesday, Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged that Philadelphia has gone through "rocky times" of unrest after the killings of Wallace and George Floyd in Minneapolis, but said the city is able to recover and move forward.

"This is certainly a tragedy and my heart breaks for the family and for the loss of Mr. Irizarry," he said. "Again, this is an ongoing investigation and I'm not going to have any comment or what I think or feel about what I've seen or know until this investigation is concluded."