By Maryclaire Dale | Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A judge dismissed murder and other charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver through a rolled-up driver’s side window, agreeing with defense attorneys who said the officer could have feared for his life because he thought the driver had a gun.
Police body camera footage showed the driver, 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry, holding a knife near his right leg as police approached his stopped vehicle on a residential street after a short pursuit prompted by erratic driving.
The ruling came after a courtroom, packed with police and relatives of Irizarry attending now-fired Officer Mark Dial’s preliminary hearing, watched about 20 minutes of the harrowing video footage. The defense argued that Dial acted in self-defense when he fired his weapon at close range shortly after noon Aug. 14.
Irizarry’s relatives appeared stunned and distraught by Municipal Judge Wendy Pew’s ruling. They said police should not need to fatally shoot someone just because they were speeding or acting irrationally.
“We are going to continue to fight for justice, because that was wrong,” cousin Aracelis Brown, 28, said in an interview after the hearing. Prosecutors vowed a quick appeal to try to reinstate the charges, including the murder count.
Bodycam footage shows Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to the sedan. He fired a total of six rounds.
Police previously backtracked from initial statements that said Dial shot Irizarry outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife. Dial, a five-year member of the force, had been suspended after officials said he refused to cooperate with investigators. Police said Dial was terminated as of Sept. 18.
“You’re sitting here telling me that he was trying to lunge at you. He was not. He was locked in the car. So there was no way that he could get to you guys, and yet you…
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