- Police Brutality Watch

Four cops shot and killed a man waving a hunting knife on a North Philadelphia street last night, police said. Cops said they don't know why the man, who was in his late 20s and wasn't from the neighborhood, was on the block about 9:30 p.m. screaming and waving the knife with an 8-inch blade. Police said they went to the scene on Cleveland Street near Cumberland after neighbors called 911 about a man with a knife acting bizarre. "He was mad about something," said an officer at the scene. The officer said four officers from the 22nd district fired at the man after he lunged at him. "He left us no choice," the cop said. Neighbors at the corner of Cleveland and Cumberland, looking at the aftermath of the shooting, pointed at the pavement littered with more than 20 shell casings fired by police. Blood was splattered on the street. A 23-year-old woman who lives in the neighborhood, said she watched the incident from her bedroom window. "I went to my bedroom window and saw cops, about 5 to 7 of them, with guns drawn. As I was coming down the stairs, I heard about eight shots. He had a knife, he couldn't harm any of them. I don't think all of them was necessary." The man was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Homicide detectives and the Internal Affairs Division were investigating. [more]