PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy last week violated the department’s use of force policy and will be fired, the commissioner said.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw made the announcement Tuesday afternoon, saying the officer who shot 12-year-old Thomas Siderio, Jr. will be suspended with the intent to dismiss after 30 days.
Outlaw was tight-lipped about the investigation, only noting that the shooting was “excessive.”
A credible threat remains against all four officers, so the department won’t release their names, as is the usual protocol. Outlaw said the department is trying to be transparent, even as the investigation continues. The officers are only being identified as numbers one through four.
On March 1, authorities said the four officers — dressed in regular clothes, not equipped with body cameras, and in an unmarked car — saw two young teens on bikes, one of whom they recognized as being wanted for questioning in a gun investigation. They put on the car’s police lights, along Barbara Street in South Philadelphia, and that’s when, they said, 12-year-old Thomas Siderio, Jr. fired at them.
Officers returned fire. The officer in the driver’s seat and the one behind him jumped out, and each fired a shot at Siderio. Officer #1 continued to go after the 12-year-old, Outlaw said, eventually shooting him in the back, which killed him.
Listen to Tuesday's press conference below:
One officer was injured by shattered glass from the car.
Authorities say the 9mm gun Siderio had was stolen, but they did not reveal any other details. Outlaw wouldn’t say whether it was in his hand when he was shot.
She said their investigation determined Officer #1 did fire the shot that killed Siderio, but she did not share any further specifics.
“All use of force has to be proportionate to the resistance they are trying to overcome. I will also tell you that our policy states that excessive force will not be tolerated,” she said. “It was clear that the use of force policy was violated. That’s all I can say at this point.”
Related
The police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau and the District Attorney’s Office are separately investigating the shooting. Both have cited those investigations as to why they can’t release more details.
“The death of a child is always a tragedy, and in this instance, a factually complex and deeply troubling one based on preliminary investigative information,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said in a statement.
There is no word on whether the officer will be charged.
Outlaw added that she rarely loses sleep over her work, but she has in this case, which has seen “tragedy on all sides.”
“It’s just a sickening and saddening situation all around,” she said. “It’s tragic that a 12-year-old had access to a gun. It’s tragic that we have trigger-pullers as young as 12. It’s tragic the circumstances that even led our young people out there in the first place. And it’s tragic that we had one of our own go against everything we say we are.”
A funeral for Siderio is scheduled for Thursday, according to the family's GoFundMe page.