Violence Tears Through West Philly After Police Shoot, Kill Man; 30 Officers Hurt
From WWW.NBCPHILADELPHIA.COM
Angry crowds took to the streets in West Philadelphia overnight after police shot and killed a man armed with a knife Monday, with some in the crowds throwing rocks and bricks at police and some looting or vandalizing businesses.
At least 30 police officers were hurt, police said. One was hospitalized, a 56-year-old sergeant who was intentionally run over by a pickup truck at 52nd and Walnut streets early Tuesday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. Her leg was broken, among other injuries, police said.
All the officers, except for the one struck by the truck, had been treated and released as of early Tuesday.
The violence followed protests in response to the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man who police shot and killed Monday in the city’s Cobbs Creek neighborhood.
At least one police car and dumpsters were set on fire as police struggled to contain the crowds. More than a dozen officers, many with batons in hand, formed a line as they ran down 52nd Street chasing protesters away from the main thoroughfare. Some confrontations could be seen in photos shared by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The crowd largely dispersed then.
Police said eight police vehicles and one fire department vehicle were vandalized. At least 91 people were arrested -- most for burglary of commercial properties and 11 for assault on officers, police said.
Tuesday, drivers were urged to avoid the area of 52nd and Chestnut streets. SEPTA also suspended the Route 52 line due to "civil unrest" and detoured the route 21 and 31 bus lines. Route 52 was still suspended Tuesday.
The School District of Philadelphia also closed most of its buildings Tuesday. The only ones that remained open are those that serve as early voting centers, and the district headquarters at Broad and Spring Garden streets.
Looters seized on the night of unrest. Police said numerous stores were broken into, including several Rite Aid stores in West Philadelphia, clothing and shoe stores and at least one restaurant. People could also be seen trying to break into a check cashing store and going in and out of a beauty supply store.
Clothes and merchandise were strewn across the sidewalk and street at 57th and Vine streets, where the glass screens of two ATMs had been bashed in.
The looting, vandalism and violence were initially concentrated in West Philadelphia's commercial corridors. But, unrest and some looting was also reported in other parts of the city, including Center City and North Philly.
The looting picked up again before daybreak as people could be seen going in and out of stores.
At a beauty supply shop that has been looted before, the owner was shaken.
"I think just anybody losing their life is very hard, and it's understandable why people are angry. I'm angry deep inside just because of everything else that happens has a ripple effect," she said, gesturing to the disarray inside the store.
Outlaw said the city anticipates additional unrest Tuesday and will be deploying additional officers. A looting response team will be present in commercial corridors.
Councilman Derek Green told NBC10 he was in the middle of a community meeting discussing changes they want to see in policing. Then, news of the shooting broke.
"My most important title is father, and as an African American man, to see that on video, at a time when we're having a hearing on this issue of accountability, it really, it causes a lot of pain. There's a lot of pain in this city, and w... (Read more)
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