Thursday, February 1, 2024 – New surveillance video was released on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from last week's deadly police-involved shooting that injured an officer and left a man dead in North Philadelphia.
The shooting happened on Friday night, January 26, inside
Jennifer Tavern on the corner of N. Mascher and W. Cambria streets.
28-year-old Alexander Spencer was shot and killed during a
scuffle with police. During that scuffle, officials say Spencer fired a shot,
hitting one of the officers in the leg.
The injured officer's partner then returned fire, according
to police.
The officer who fired the shot has been identified as
33-year-old Ofc. Raheem Hall of the 24th Police District. He is a 6-year
veteran of the force.
The Philadelphia police department promised full "transparency" about the Friday night encounter and released several minutes of security video as concerns grew about the police use of force in the fatal shooting of Spencer. In the video, two officers were wrestling with Spencer on the floor as two shots rang out in five seconds.
At a morning news conference, new Police Commissioner Kevin
Bethel said: "The officers’ guns are holstered, and only after being shot
do they take their weapon out."
The officers, whose names have not yet been released, were
on routine patrol in the area while also keeping an eye out for a person wanted
in a recent non-fatal shooting, Bethel said. He described the immediate area,
in the city’s Fairhill neighbourhood, as particularly dangerous, with five
homicides and 17 nonfatal shootings in the past three years.
Bethel said his staff had also met with the family.
The released video shows two uniformed officers stopping in
the narrow store as several men walk near a row of video gambling machines.
One of the officers walks into the store, asking if anyone
has a gun and checking waistbands.
The officer then gets to Spencer and signals to his partner
that he is armed.
The officers appear to confront Spencer about whether he has
a gun, and the three begin wrestling.
"He alerts his partner that there’s a gun. And the
struggle is on," said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore.
In the video, the two officers and Spencer are seen in a
short scuffle on the ground before you hear a shot and see blood coming from
the leg of an officer. Police believe Spencer fired that initial shot.
Officials also point out that at the time of the initial
gunshot, both officers' guns are holstered.
Seconds later, Hall fires at Spencer, killing him, before
radioing for backup.
The injured officer, who was crouching, suffered four wounds
when he was shot by a single bullet, Vanore said. He may have tried to fire
back, but could not, he said.
"I think he tried, but it did not operate. The other
officer did and that was the shot that struck Mr. Spencer," Vanore said.
The suspect’s gun appeared to kick out during the scuffle
and was later grabbed by a man seen on video recording the scene with a
cellphone.
Police have a warrant out for his arrest, and have
identified him as Jose Quinones-Mendez, 42.
He is being sought on charges that include obstruction of
justice and evidence tampering. The two officers apparently did not notice that
Spencer’s gun had slid away and that Quinones-Mendez had stolen it after the
shooting.
Quinones-Mendez is considered armed and dangerous. The
Philadelphia FOP Lodge #5 is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that
leads to his arrest.
The injured officer was released Monday, Jan. 29, from a
hospital, the department said. He has been on the force for nine years.
Meanwhile, the mother of the man who died, 28-year-old
Alexander Spencer, says she viewed the video Monday with police and
officials from the district attorney's office.
Now, she is asking for answers.
"They're supposed to be protecting the neighborhood and
they have to protect themselves. But sometimes things don't go right and that
did not look right," noted Spencer's mother, Yvette Spencer after watching
the video.
“When did stop and frisk come into play?” Yvette asked.
While officials did release surveillance video from inside the store, Bethel said the officers did not activate their body cameras, which were knocked off their clothing during the struggle.
A social media video circulating online is now
part of the investigation.
In the video, Spencer can be seen on the ground with
officers on top of him moments before two gunshots are heard. The wounded
officer's partner can then be seen calling for help over the radio.
Watch the video below.
The Alexander Spencer Shooting in Philly.
— ᗷᒪᗩᑕK ᗷᑌᗪᗪᗩᖴᒪY ʚїɞ (@DFiosa) January 30, 2024
So, we see that Spencer did have a gun, & he did use it, shooting one of these cops. My issue is with Philly's "Stop & Frisk" policy.
They used this unwarranted policy that provoked this man's death.#StopAndFrisk NEVER worked ANYWHERE! pic.twitter.com/MoDwna2V8R
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