BREAKING Philadelphia police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw on Tuesday said she will fire the plainclothes officer who shot and killed a fleeing 12-year-old boy last week in South Philadelphia, citing violations of the department's 'Use of Force' policy.
The officers were conducting surveillance in the area of 18th and Barbara streets around 7:24 p.m. Tuesday when they spotted two boys on bicycles, the PPD said. They noticed one of the boys, a 17-year-old, was wanted in a gun investigation, the department said.
The officer who was driving and an officer sitting in the rear driver's side seat got out of the car and fired at Siderio, who was holding a gun and running away, Naish said. One of the officers continued chasing the boy, firing two more times and mortally striking him with one of the bullets, the deputy commissioner added.
Though the boy was shot in the back, it doesn't mean he wasn't pointing the gun toward or"in the vicinity" of the officer, the deputy commissioner said. The gun Siderio was holding had one live round in the chamber and five in the magazine, he added. "They're saying the cop car turned their lights on, that never happened," the woman said."So they didn't make themselves known as police officers. So the two kids assumed it was somebody from another neighborhood so the one kid shot at the car."