Philadelphia Issues Curfew As It Braces For More Protests In Walter Wallace Shooting

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Protesters confront police during a march in Philadelphia on Tuesday, following the death of Walter Wallace, a Black man who was killed by police in the city on Monday.

Matt Slocum/AP

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Matt Slocum/AP

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Community members gather in West Philly

A racially diverse crowd came together on Tuesday evening at Malcolm X Park, not far from the West Philadelphia neighborhood where Wallace was killed.

The gathering featured speeches and preceded a march, Philadelphia member station WHYY reports, which adds one speaker noted that there were «far too many comfortable white people here tonight.»

Wallace’s father, Walter Wallace, Sr., urged the protesters not to turn violent.

«Stop this looting and stop and stop burning our city down,» the elder Wallace told CNN.

«It’s not going to solve anything,» he said. «I don’t want to leave a bad scar on my son and my family with this looting and chaos stuff.»

Wallace’s killing was captured on cell phone video and posted to social media, where it went viral.

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The video also sparked a fresh outrage and a series of yet-to-be answered about why officers used deadly force during the encounter with Wallace.

Police said the officers have been placed on desk duty pending an investigation.

Family says they called for an ambulance, not police

Wallace was experiencing a psychological episode on Monday, an attorney for the family says. His mother tried to calm him, but was unsuccessful and called for an ambulance, WHYY’s Peter Crimmins reports.

But police arrived first.

According to Shaka Johnson, an attorney for the family, Wallace’s wife told the officers when they arrived that her husband had bipolar disorder and urged the officers to stand down.

A police spokesperson said in a Monday that officers were responding to a report of a man with a knife.

They ordered Wallace to drop the weapon, adding that Wallace «advanced towards officers.»

Both officers fired their guns at Wallace. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

• Walter Wallace
• officers
• Philadelphia