City, family agree to release body camera footage of Walter Wallace Jr. shooting Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia officials say the police body camera footage from the deadly shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. on Monday will be released by Wednesday next week.

Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Krasner, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, and the Wallace family released a joint statement Thursday saying the footage and 911 audio would be released by the end of the day Nov. 4.

All parties said in the statement they agreed the date would be "in the best interest of our city and its residents."

"Philadelphians are experiencing an immense amount of pain, and significant unrest persists throughout the entire city. The collective hope of our local government and the Wallace family is that releasing the recordings on November 4 will provide enough time to calm tensions and for the recordings to be released in the most constructive manner possible," the statement went on.

The Wallace family has already seen the footage and heard the 911 audio, according to their attorney, Shaka Johnson, who detailed what the video showed during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Johnson said after viewing the footage Thursday morning his impression was the same as before that Wallace was in “obvious mental health crisis.”  Johnson added he heard people shouting “he’s mental,” “he’s mental."

Body camera video from the shooting of Wallace includes audio of one of the officers saying 'shoot him' to the other, before both opened fire, according to Johnson.

Walter Wallace Jr. was shot and killed by police Monday afternoon.

The family wants accountability and justice but they are not calling for the officers involved in their son's death to be charged with murder, Johnson said.

"They were improperly trained and did not have the proper equipment," Johnson said.

Johnson also announced a viewing for Wallace will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 9-11 a.m. followed by a service at the Church of Christian Compassion.

On Friday afternoon, Philadelphia FOP Lodge #5 President John McNesby called for the public release of the body camera footage, claiming it would show the officers were "justified in their use of force."

"The officers were justified in their use of force under very difficult and stressful conditions, an armed man confronting them with a knife. For nearly 50 seconds, officers retreated and ordered the male to drop his knife more than 20 times. We also question why the District Attorney’s office will not release the tapes, so that the city can begin the process of healing," the statement reads in part.

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