Sources: Philadelphia officer to be terminated following fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry
Video of the shooting was released Tuesday during a news conference with Eddie Irizarry's family members and their attorney.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a man in the city's Kensington section last week is expected to be terminated, Action News has learned.
Sources say Officer Mark Dial will be suspended for 30 days with the intent to dismiss following the deadly August 14 shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry.
Dial did not cooperate with the internal investigation and did not provide a formal statement, according to sources.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney will provide a further update on the case during a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Irizarry's family released video on Tuesday of moments leading up to the fatal gunfire on the 100 block of Willard Street.
Police said last week this all began when Irizarry was seen driving erratically near B and Erie streets.
SEE ALSO: Philadelphia police officer who shot, killed man inside car identified; family wants answers
The officers followed the vehicle as it turned on Westmoreland Street, then left onto Lee Street, and finally left onto Willard Street.
Officials say at that point, the Toyota continued the wrong way down East Willard Street, which is one-way.
The video begins showing Irizarry pulling his vehicle over on East Willard Street.
He stops for a moment, then briefly backs up. His car stops again and remains stopped as a Philadelphia police SUV arrives and pulls up alongside him.
The police vehicle does not appear to have its flashing lights on. No siren can be heard in the video.
Two officers get out of the SUV, both with guns drawn, and one shouts "Show me your hands" and "He's got a f------ knife."
Shouts of "Don't move" and "I'll f------ shoot you" are heard just as Dial runs up to Irizarry's closed car window.
Dial then fires five shots at point-blank range, then runs past the front of the car while firing a sixth time.
An officer then be heard making a "shots fired" call.
On the day of the shooting, police officials said Irizarry was outside the car when he was killed after lunging at police with a knife. Two days later, the department acknowledged Irizarry was fatally shot while inside his car.
Police said two knives were recovered inside the vehicle. Police have not said if either knife was in Irizarry's hand when he was fatally shot.
The video was released during a news conference with Irizarry's family and attorney Shaka Johnson.
"What about what you just saw could ever be confused as he got out of the car and lunged at police officers?" said Johnson.
Johnson said the family will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against both the City of Philadelphia and Dial.
"This officer really took someone very special to us and I just want him to pay for what he did," said Irizarry's aunt, Zoraida Garcia.
Johnson argues the damage to his client's loved one's reputation is done.
"There was an intentional misleading of the public," he said.
The Citizens Police Oversight Commission, which investigates the conduct, policies, and practices of the Philadelphia Police Department, has called for the officer to be fired.
"We wanted to make sure that the public knew that we were involved and that we had taken a stand," said Anthony Erace, the interim executive director of the commission.
"We came to the conclusion that we would call for Officer Dial to be fired. It was not an easy decision to come to, but in our evaluation of the evidence it spoke for itself," added Erace.
Officer Dial is five-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department who is assigned to the 24th District.
His attorney told Action News that Officer Dial has the full support of the Fraternal Order of Police as they continue to review the facts.
Irizarry's family is calling for the body-worn camera footage to be released to the public.
"The story changes, and it's going to keep changing. They're going to keep changing it. But, we're going to get to the bottom of this. We're going to show that they were wrong," said Irizarry's aunt, Zoraida Garcia.
"He's schizophrenic at that. That's all in the paperwork. He was reaching for his wallet when the officer shot him. Not once or twice, but five or six times," added Garcia.
Action News asked Garcia about the knife police said Irizarry had in his possession. She said it was common for him to have one.
"He always did carry a little pocket knife, but it's not nothing big," said Garcia.
She also said he didn't understand English very well.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office released this statement on the investigation:
"The Philadelphia DA's Office has been in contact repeatedly and at length with the Irizarry family by communicating with their legal counsel. We look forward to meeting with them and their legal counsel in person, in the near future.
"The DA's Office intends to keep its sworn obligation to seek justice for all those involved in the fatal shooting of Mr. Irizarry, as well as for all those Philadelphians who are not directly involved but who care deeply about fairness, justice, and independence.
"We will have more to say about this situation when we can do so consistent with preserving the quality and integrity of our independent investigation."
