PHILADELPHIA — Bail has been revoked for the former Philadelphia police officer charged in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry in Kensington.
Officer Mark Dial was charged with murder and was later released on $50,000 bail on September 8.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
During a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Lillian Ransom revoked Dial’s bail.
Prosecutors argued with a potential first degree murder charge on the table, Dial was not eligible for bail.
“The district attorney’s office is looking for even handed justice,” said Prosecutor Lyandra Retacco.
The former officer will be housed in a Philadelphia jail as he awaits a preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for September 26. During the hearing, prosecutors will determine if Dial faces first or third-degree murder charges.
But Brian McMonagle, who is representing the officer, says, “There is no way in this world that this is a first degree case. This has never been a first-degree murder case. And we fully expect when evidence is presented in a preliminary hearing, hopefully next week, that a judge will make that decision.”
In addition to murder, Dial also faces charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person and official oppression.
Bodycam video of the August 14 shooting was released earlier this month. The video, from Dial’s body-worn camera, shows him getting out of the passenger’s side of a police SUV and running to a car with Irizarry behind the wheel.
The officer can be seen holding a gun as he quickly approaches the car.
Shouts of “Show me your hands” and “I’ll f—— shoot you” are heard just as Dial runs up to Irizarry’s closed car window.
Dial then fires five shots at point-blank range, then runs past the front of the car while firing a sixth time.
McMonagle said there is more to the story.
“Video evidence in this case, which we’ve uncovered, demonstrates completely that Officer Dial got out of his car, ordered him to show his hands, and then heard ‘gun.’ You can hear it on the video,” McMonagle said.
We asked DA Larry Krasner about that assertion, but the D.A. wouldn’t go into specifics about whether the body camera video gave any insight on that.
“He then saw an individual pointing what he thought was a gun right in his face,” McMonagle continued. “Fearing that he was going to be the next police officer killed in the streets of Philadelphia, he fired.”
Dial, who has been on the force for five years, was suspended with intent to dismiss after officials said he refused to cooperate in the investigation of the killing.
Police officials said the shooting happened after officers spotted the car driving erratically and followed it for several blocks. Then, officers approached as the driver turned the wrong way down a one-way street and stopped.
On the day of the shooting, police officials said Irizarry was outside the car when he was killed after lunging at police with a knife.
Two days later, the department acknowledged Irizarry was fatally shot while inside his car.
