PHILADELPHIA _ A Philadelphia Police officer whose fatal shooting of a man who had been riding a dirt bike earlier this year led to angry protests, will be suspended with intent to dismiss, Commissioner Richard Ross announced Thursday morning.
At an 11 a.m. news conference at Police Headquarters, Ross said Ryan Pownall, a 12-year veteran of the force, would officially lose his job next month. Ross said Pownall committed "serious" departmental violations when he shot David Jones in the back. He said Pownall used "poor judgment" by firing at Jones with witnesses in his car as Jones ran away on a busy street.
Pownall's shooting of Jones on the 4200 block of Whitaker Avenue on June 8 generated controversy almost from the day it happened.
Surveillance video captured Jones running away from Pownall when he was shot in the back. Jones, 30, of Juniata Park, illegally possessed a gun when he was stopped while riding a dirt bike on the street _ also against the law _ and the initial police account said Jones reached for the weapon during a scuffle with Pownall. The gun later was found on the ground near Pownall.
Ross said Pownall's first attempt to shoot at Jones was reasonable under department policy. But when Jones started to run, shots were fired from 10 to 35 feet. He said that although Pownall clearly thought he was in danger, he had an opportunity to reassess the situation when Jones fled.
"You've got to be able to assess the situation and reassess," Ross said of the officer.
The commissioner said a criminal investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Activists have disrupted city offices, news conferences, and even staged a protest outside Pownall's Bustleton home calling for him to be fired and criminally charged. That demonstration led the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the city's police union, to sue the city in an attempt to prevent the department from releasing the names of officers involved in shootings.
Ross said some protests outside Pownall's house were "out of bounds" and crossed a line.
Pownall was involved in another shooting in 2010, which activists often cited as further reason he should be dismissed. In that case, Pownall and other officers fired at Carnell Williams-Carney, who also ran from police after being stopped with an illegal gun. Williams-Carney was struck in the back by a bullet that Pownall later said he fired.
Williams-Carney was paralyzed from his injuries. Pownall and the other officers remained on the job. In a federal civil suit filed by Williams-Carney, a jury ruled in 2013 that the officers were justified in opening fire.
