Man killed by Philadelphia police never got out of his car, didn’t ‘lunge’ with a knife, police say in new narrative

New questions have emerged about the fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry in North Philadelphia this week after the Police Department changed its narrative of the events leading up to his death.

At the scene of the shooting Monday, police first said Irizarry emerged from his car after a traffic stop with a knife in his hand and “lunged” at police, before an officer shot him multiple times, killing him.

But on Tuesday night, the department offered a new and different account of the shooting, saying Irizarry did not flee the traffic stop, never lunged at officers with a weapon, and was seated in his car when they shot him.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference Wednesday morning that the initial information shared was “generated internally,” and that officials are “backtracking” to find out how the details came together. She said they did not learn of the inaccuracies until they reviewed the officers’ body camera footage.

“Obviously it was different than what we were led to believe when we got to the scene,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Coulter.

Outlaw vowed transparency as the department continues to investigate, and said the District Attorney’s Office was heading an independent investigation.

Still, she declined to answer many questions about the events leading up to Irizarry’s death, citing the ongoing inquiries. She would not say whether Irizarry was holding a knife when the officer shot him or if the officer provided any verbal warning before firing.

The encounter began around 12:30 p.m. Monday, when two uniformed officers with the 24th Police District said they saw Irizarry “driving erratically” near B Street and Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia, according to Cpl. Jasmine Reilly, a department spokesperson.

Reilly initially said that when the officers attempted to pull him over, Irizarry fled in his gold Toyota Corolla. They followed him south until he stopped on East Willard Street. As officers approached the stopped car, police initially said Irizarry stepped out with a knife. The officers gave “multiple commands” for him to drop the weapon, Reilly had said, but he did not. He then “lunged” at the officers, she said, and one officer shot him multiple times.

But on Tuesday night, police revised that narrative, saying Irizarry did not flee and was seated in his car when the officer shot him.

According to the new statement, the officers observed Irizarry “driving erratically” but did not attempt to pull him over, and instead followed him as he drove south. Irizarry then pulled the wrong way onto the 100 block of East Willard Street, and parked his car.

Here’s what happened next, according to the new statement:

The officers got out of their patrol car and approached Irizarry’s car from both sides. As one officer approached the driver’s side of the car, the second attempted to open the passenger side door. One officer then alerted his partner that “the male had a weapon.”

As Irizarry turned toward the officer on the driver’s side, that officer shot Irizarry multiple times. The statement said that “two knives were observed inside the vehicle.”

The officers then carried Irizarry to their cruiser and rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he died shortly after, at 12:48 p.m.

Video posted on Instagram of the moments immediately after the shooting appeared to show the officers pulling Irizarry out of the driver’s side of the Toyota, and there appeared to be a bullet hole in the car’s windshield.

Police said they recovered a kitchen knife and a folded serrated knife inside the car. But Outlaw declined to say whether Irizarry was holding the knife or had threatened police with it. She also declined to share the length of the interaction or to say whether the officer ordered Irizarry to drop the weapon before firing. She said Irizarry was shot “several” times but declined to specify the number of shots fired or how many times he was struck.

Irizarry’s family said the revised story confirmed the skepticism they’d felt toward the police narrative since Monday afternoon.

“My nephew was no harm to anyone,” Zoradia Garcia, Irizarry’s aunt said in an interview Wednesday. “Never been incarcerated. Don’t even have a traffic stop ticket in his record.”

Irizarry, who moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about seven years ago, did not speak or understand English, Garcia said. She wondered aloud whether a language barrier might have created confusion in the chaotic moments that preceded his death.

“If the officer was saying anything to him in English, I’m quite sure that he didn’t even understood what was going on,” she said.

She said the family has faced near complete silence from police. And they have been unable to see Irizarry’s body, she said, noting that an officer had turned the family away at Temple University Hospital, citing an “ongoing investigation.”

At the scene of the shooting Monday, police provided Irizarry’s relatives with little information, Garcia said. At the hospital, she said, doctors told them Irizarry had been shot six times and died, but provided no additional details.

“We’re just frustrated, really frustrated,” she said. “Especially to find out that it was an officer. It’s just sad because we expect them to pretty much protect us from a lot of stuff that’s going on out here.”

On Wednesday morning, Garcia said, the family was making funeral arrangements for her nephew. Then, she said, they would focus on seeking justice.

“We need answers,” she said. “We just need answers.”

Coulter said the officer — a five-year veteran of the department whose name will be released Thursday — has not yet been interviewed. It is standard protocol, she said, that officers involved in shootings receive 72 hours to retain counsel before being interviewed.

Outlaw acknowledged the family and community’s frustration.

“Sometimes I feel like we take 20 steps forward, and it just takes one incident and we take 50 steps backward,” she said. “I understand the reticence, I understand folks not really being sure whether or not they should even trust what we are saying today because of what we said initially. But I’m hoping that they see this is a genuine effort to do everything we can to share what we know when we have it.”

Still, of the outstanding questions, she said: “It is our duty to protect the integrity of the investigation.”