Philadelphia Bracing For More Unrest Following Looting, Protests Over Fatal Police Shooting Of Walter Wallace Jr.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The City of Philadelphia is bracing for more unrest following looting and protests that took place in response to the fatal police shooting of a Black man on Monday. Walter Wallace Jr. was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia after, authorities say, he refused to drop a knife.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw says 91 people were arrested overnight after looting and vandalism ravaged parts of West Philly. Thirty police officers were injured, including a female officer who was struck by a pickup truck. She suffered a broken leg.
"We anticipate the chance of additional incidents of civil unrest," Outlaw said during a Tuesday press conference. "And as such, we will be taking additional steps to ensure order. We will increase our officer presence around the city at key locations."
Outlaw says she has reached out for additional resources in case protests turn violent.
"We've also requested mutual aid, assistance from surrounding counties and state to help bolster our own personnel," Outlaw said.
A group of about 300 people marched through the streets of West Philly Monday night to protest the killing of Wallace Jr. However, the protest turned violent.
The unrest lead to looting and vandalism of multiple stores, including a Family Dollar and Rainbow retail store in West Philadelphia and a Foot Locker in North Philadelphia.
"We are hoping we won't have any repeat of what we've seen last night and we're taking every precaution that we can to be staffed and police manned to avoid that situation that happened last night," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "We've been through a very difficult time, we recognize that. End of May through the beginning of June was difficult. Looting is not protests and vandalism is not protests."
Cellphone video shows Wallace Jr. as he was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia on Monday evening.
The officers were responding to a call about a man with a knife near 61st and Locust Streets. Those officers say they opened fired when Wallace began to walk towards them refusing to drop the knife. The officers did not have tasers.
"Every police officer is not issued a taser at this time," Outlaw said, adding that they have requested additional funding so more officers can have tasers. The police commissioner says it's common for officers to show up to domestic disturbance calls with a gun.
Outlaw says she can't guarantee that body camera footage of the fatal shooting will be released within the next 48 to 72 hours.
"We are currently reviewing everything that we have right now to ensure what we can release and by when we can do that. I can commit to releasing information or actually commit to communicating what information will be released in the next 48 to 72 hours. Whether or not the bodycam footage will be a part of that, I don't know at this point in the day, but I am committed to being transparent as possible," Outlaw said.
The names of the officers involved in the shooting have not yet been released.
The White House is "prepared to deploy federal resources" if necessary following the night of violence and looting.
During an appearance on "Fox and Friends" Tuesday morning, White House communications director Alyssa Farah said they are "monitoring the situation closely."
"If necessary, we'll be standing by and prepared to deploy federal resources," Farah said, adding that "those conversations are ongoing."
Stay with CBS3, CBSN Philly, and CBSPhilly.com for continuous coverage on this developing story.
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