Philadelphia Police Expected To Release 911 Calls, Bodycam Footage Of Fatal Shooting Of Walter Wallace Jr. On Wednesday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The City of Philadelphia on Wednesday plans to release the 911 calls and police officers' body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. in West Philadelphia last week. Police say Wallace Jr. walked toward the officers while holding a knife and refused to drop it. He was shot 14 times and neither officer was carrying a taser, authorities say.
The Wallace family was given the opportunity to review the police body camera footage last Thursday.
Wallace family attorney Shaka Johnson said the 27-year-old was executed by two Philadelphia police officers while he was suffering a mental health crisis. The Wallace family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
"The man was suffering. He was on doctor's care. He was on a regiment of lithium, etc., and the police were here earlier that day," Johnson said.
Johnson says police were called at least three times to the home. The final 911 call was made by Wallace Jr.'s brother, asking for medics.
"The ambulance never made it," Johnson said.
The family is not calling for charges on the discharging officers, but they are calling for the city to invest in less lethal weapons for Philadelphia police officers.
"I would like to see justice done for what they did to my son. I wouldn't wish this on no one," Kathy Wallace, Walter's mother, said.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the bodycam footage will be released "in the spirit of transparency to show we're not hiding anything."
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