Philadelphia police who fatally shot an allegedly armed and belligerent ex-convict during a traffic stop in Mayfair early Monday have come under scrutiny from the dead man’s relatives, who are comparing the incident to the controversial Michael Brown slaying.
Police did not identify the dead man by name, but relatives told news reporters during a Monday night vigil at the scene that he was Brandon Tate-Brown, 26, of the 5200 block of Horrocks St. in Frankford. There is no known family relation to the man shot fatally by police in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9.
The Philadelphia Police Department — whose commissioner, Charles Ramsey, co-chairs President Barack Obama’s new Task Force on 21st Century Policing — released the following preliminary account of Monday’s fatal shooting:
At about 2:45 a.m., two 15th district officers in uniform were on patrol in a marked police car on the 6700 block of Frankford Ave. when they saw a white Dodge Charger with a Florida license plate traveling without headlights. The officers stopped the motorist for violating a traffic law. When the officers approached the car, they saw a handgun in the front center console area and asked the driver to exit the car. The motorist exited the car, began to struggle physically with the officers and forced his way back into the Dodge. The motorist “attempted to retrieve the gun when one of the officers discharged his weapon striking the male once in the head,” police reported in a printed statement. Paramedics were called to the scene and pronounced the motorist dead at 3:05 a.m. Police recovered a gun from the Dodge. It was a Taurus .22-caliber pistol loaded with eight live rounds. The weapon had been reported stolen on July 8, 2013, from an undisclosed location. Police took multiple witnesses to the Homicide Division for interviews. One officer was taken to an area hospital for observation with undisclosed injuries. No other injuries were reported. Police did not release the names of the officers involved. The officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on desk duty while the Homicide Division and Internal Affairs investigate the case, which will be sent to the District Attorney’s Office for review.
While not naming the suspect, the police department reported that he had prior arrests for attempted murder and related offenses (including a firearm violation), as well as theft and receiving stolen property.
Tate-Brown’s most recent Philadelphia arrest occurred on June 26, 2007, when he was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related crimes after he reportedly used a .40-caliber pistol to shoot two men in front of a Juniata Park house. One of the victims suffered three leg wounds and the other a graze wound. Tate-Brown pleaded guilty on March 31, 2008, to felony aggravated assault. Prosecutors declined to pursue the attempted murder charge further. He was sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison and released in September 2012. As a convicted felon, Tate-Brown was prohibited by law from possessing a gun.
On Monday night, dozens of Tate-Brown’s relatives and police violence protesters reportedly gathered on Frankford Avenue, some claiming that the killing was unwarranted and vowing to fight for “justice.” Tate-Brown had turned his life around and had been working at a rental car company, relatives said.
According to records posted by the Philadelphia Police Department online, officers have fired their weapons at criminal suspects at least 25 previous times this year. Five of those incidents have occurred in the Northeast, including three in the 15th district and two in the 2nd district. Three of those shootings resulted in the death of a suspect. One officer was wounded in those incidents. In 2013, there were 41 police-involved shootings citywide that resulted in 13 suspect deaths and no wounded officers. ••
