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Protesters carried a banner in honor of Walter Wallace Jr., who was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia in October 2020, on 52nd Street, April 25, 2021. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Updated: 4:15 p.m.
About 100 people have gathered at West Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park to honor Walter Wallace Jr., the 27-year-old Black man who police fatally shot in October.
The event kicked off with a drum line and chants of “long live Walter Wallace.”
“Tomorrow is six months to the day that police murdered Walter Wallace,” said YahNé Ndgo, who helped organize Sunday’s event. “We want to make sure that people always remember what happened.”
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Protesters marched from South Philadelphia to City Hall on June 23, 2020, demanding an end to police brutality during ongoing demonstrations in Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Many Americans are still processing Tuesday’s news that a jury found Derek Chauvin, a white former police officer, guilty of murder in the death of African American George Floyd on a Minneapolis street last year.
Morning Edition host Jennifer Lynn asked WHYY’s Managing Editor for Community Engagement Christopher Norris to weigh in on what this verdict means to Philadelphia. Chris is host of the WHYY-TV special “Police Reimagined” – a forum for community leaders to discuss the future of public safety with an eye on changing the way Black Philadelphians are treated.
On top of Philly news Despite national outcry, Philly police slow to implement mental health crisis reforms
It’s been six months since officers fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr. while responding to a 911 call.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw at a November 2020 press conference announcing the names of the officers who shot and killed Walter Wallace Jr. Kimberly Paynter / WHYY Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn email newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day.
It was just after 6 p.m. on a Sunday last April when a mother in West Philadelphia heard an alarming knock at her door. She sent her 9-year-old daughter upstairs before opening to find police officers on her porch, service weapons drawn.
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Protesters march from the scene of Walter Wallace Jr.’s killing to Malcolm X Park. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The family of Walter Wallace Jr. has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the two police officers who shot and killed the 27-year-old outside of his West Philadelphia home in October.
The 17-page suit, filed Wednesday in Common Pleas Court, accuses police officers Sean Matarazzo and Thomas Munz of using unreasonable and unauthorized force when they shot Wallace, who was holding a kitchen knife, approximately 10 times in broad daylight in front of his wife and parents, as well as his sister and brother. Wallace’s family has said he was experiencing a mental health crisis, and that they had called for an ambulance when the police officers arrived.
The family of a Philadelphia man is suing two police officers who fatally shot him last year
The family of Walter Wallace Jr. is suing two police officers who fatally shot him in West Philadelphia last year.
Wallace, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police while holding a knife on October 26. His family had said he had bipolar disorder and was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time. The officers were not equipped with less-lethal options, like Tasers, to use in such situations.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges officers Sean Matarazzo and Thomas Munz used unreasonable force when they shot Wallace outside of his family’s home, less than a minute after arriving on the scene.