PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed 27-year-old Eddie Jose Irizarry last week will be fired, the mayor and police commissioner announced on Wednesday.
Officer Mark Dial, a five-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, has not been charged with a crime following the fatal shooting last week Monday — but he will be fired within the month. Because of the way the police contract is written, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, she is suspending Dial with the intent to dismiss him after 30 days.
Dial, who had been assigned to the 24th district, fired several shots into the driver's side of Irizarry’s car on Aug. 14, just seconds after he parked his car the wrong way on Willard Street in Fairhill. Police took Irizarry to a hospital, where he died.
Watch video of the incident
Outlaw said he violated several departmental policies, including insubordination. She also charged him with failure to cooperate with the internal affairs investigation, and he could face additional departmental violation charges.
The commissioner took a line of rapid questions from reporters, but she said she had to hold a lot back, because the investigation is still underway.
The other officer who was there with Dial, but who did not fire his weapon, is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Outlaw said he has cooperated with the investigation.
Video shows shooting timeline
The initial report from police incorrectly outlined the details of the shooting — that Irizarry was standing outside his car and had lunged at the officers with a knife. In truth, Irizarry was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car when he was fatally shot.
Outlaw publicly corrected the initial account less than two days after the incident. And surveillance video released to the public Tuesday seems to confirm the major points of that revised narrative.
After that police contradiction, Irizarry’s family demanded to see video from body cameras worn by police that day. That video has not been released to the public.
The attorney representing Irizarry’s family, Shaka Johnson, said Tuesday that the city solicitor initially invited the family to view that from body camera video, but the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office rescinded the offer, because the investigation is still unfolding.
Instead, the family obtained Ring camera video from residents at the scene of the shooting. That video shows Irizarry driving the wrong way down Willard Street in Fairhill, coming to an abrupt stop at the curb. A police SUV rolls up and stops on the passenger side — no flashing lights, no siren.
Two officers get out. Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, has his gun drawn as he makes his way to the driver’s side of Irizarry’s car. Video shows Dial firing six shots — through the closed driver’s side window and through the windshield — within six seconds of getting out of his patrol car.
While Irizarry had a history of schizophrenia, Johnson said he never had any sort of arrest record.
And there was a knife in Irizarry’s car, but Johnson said the man used it in his work as a mechanic.
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Internal investigation
Outlaw said the Department is still looking into why the first account differed so much from what actually happened, and where that misinformation came from. She couldn’t give details, only saying, “We do believe that came from an internal source — but again, that is currently under administrative investigation and as soon as I find out, I will take appropriate action.”
Outlaw said she rejects any notion that she or the Department were trying to ‘hide’ information.
“Once it was brought to our attention that it was misinformation that was put out there, we corrected it — and we didn’t have to do that.”
She said there may be some understanding that the Police Department got caught, which she rejects.
“Caught by whom? We discovered it ourselves, and did what we could in a timely manner to make sure that narrative was quickly addressed.”
The commissioner said she wants to make sure that justice is done.
“It’s not lost upon me that a family lost a loved one. As parents, we don’t want to bury our children,” Outlaw said.
“We all understand there is a family that is grieving — and, again, we are not being tight-lipped because we are hard or cold. We are doing this to ensure that whatever justice looks like is done in the cleanest way to ensure that whatever that justice is, it’s not tainted and that the process is respected.”
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The Citizens Police Oversight Commission released a statement on Tuesday calling for Dial to be fired, based on what they had seen of the Police Department's investigation, which the group has been actively monitoring since the start. CPOC is hosting a virtual public meeting, open to all, on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Irizarry’s funeral will be Thursday, according to his family. His remains will be interred at Magnolia Cemetery in the northeast part of the city.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Stay with KYW Newsradio for the latest.