A judge dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver who had a knife, agreeing with defense lawyers who said the officer could have feared for his life.
The municipal judge ruled after a courtroom packed with police and relatives of Eddie Irizarry watched about 20 minutes of harrowing video of the brief traffic stop that led to the death of the 27-year-old. The defense argued that Officer Mark Dial acted in self-defense when he fired his weapon at close range through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan on Aug. 14.
Dial’s partner, Officer Michael Morris, testified that he saw the driver holding a knife with a black metal handle that could have looked like a gun. He said Irizarry was holding the knife against his leg and started to raise it as Dial approached the car, which had stopped the wrong way on a one-way residential street.
Full story: Eddie Irizarry’s relatives distraught after charges dropped against officer who fatally shot him
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