Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial claimed that Eddie Irizarry lunged at him with a knife, forcing Dial to shoot and kill him after he fled a traffic stop. After the department refused to release Dial's bodycam footage, though, it came down to video from a nearby home security camera to reveal the truth: Dial executed Irizarry in his car within seconds of arriving at the scene, firing numerous shots into the vehicle, through a closed window. The footage's release also, according to the Philadephia Inquirer, forced police to admit Irizarry had not fled a stop and was being approached after being observed speeding—and they're now declining to say whether he was even holding a knife.
The Irizarry family's lawyer, Shaka Johnson, said the Police Department's initial narrative — that Irizarry fled a traffic stop, emerged from his car with a knife, and then "lunged" at officers — was "an intentional misleading of the public.""What about what you just saw could ever be confused as, 'He got out of the car and lunged at police officers'?" Johnson asked. "That was an out-and-out, flat-out lie."Johnson said he intended to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Dial and the City of Philadelphia on behalf of the family.
The family knew what was up as soon as Philadephia's City Solicitor's officer rescinded its agreement to show them the bodycam footage. They "returned to the block in search of video" and found that police had not canvased nearby homes in the neighborhood, and found one with clear footage of the killing.
Dial was already fired for insubordination after refusing to participate in the Department's internal investigation. Dial "has the full support of the Fraternal Order of Police," according to Fortunato Perri, a legal representative.
Warning: the video embedded further down this page shows a cop shooting and killing a man sitting in his car.
