Looks like philly sports made the national news again, for, as usual, all the wrong reasons. Here in town all the talk is about the young man who must have had one too many and decided that he wanted to live out his life long fantasy and play ball with the Phillies. Bad move. Philly's finest tasered his ass and now we are back in the news with another black eye. Here in Philly folks seems to be split down the middle: "Serves him right" some are saying. "He got just what he deserved." Some, on the other hand, are saying that the po po should have shown more restraint.
Of course this taser stuff is nothing new. Afrospear bloggers have been crying foul about the po po and their taser tactics for some time now. And, as is always the case, it takes some suburban kid getting his ass shocked by the po po for some people to get up in arms about the po po going high tech. For the record, I thought that the po po over- reacted, that kid did not present a threat to anybody. But maybe next time his ass will think twice before he starts pretending that the Phillies signed him to a major league contract.
And finally, at least that kid is still alive to consider his silly actions. Unfortunately for Howard Williams, he is not. An off duty Philadelphia police officer is facing murder charges for allegedly shooting the young man execution style after a domestic dispute.
"The fatal shooting of Howard Williams, 22, happened about 6:30 p.m. on a crowded South Philly block where at least 50 people were engaged in "an all-out water fight" with squirt guns, hoses and balloons, Shanae Williams said.
Gary, 26, and his girlfriend had driven to Hoffman Street near 19th to pick up the 8-year-old son he and Shanae Williams share custody of, she said.
Their car windows were down and Gary's girlfriend became enraged when Williams' niece sprayed her with water, Williams said.
An argument ensued between the women and then between Gary and Howard Williams, according to witnesses.
Gary then went to his car, grabbed a handgun and shot Howard Williams in the neck at point-blank range, Shanae Williams said.
Howard Williams' brother, Antwion "Demetrius" Strickland, 19, said he went to run to his fallen brother's side, but Gary stood over Williams' convulsing body and fired four more shots into his chest.
"When I seen the blood just squirting up in the air, I knew it was serious" Strickland said.
Shanae Williams said Gary then grabbed their son, threw him in the car, locked the doors and put a gun in her face before he sped away." [Article]
Oh well, one more to add to the murder count. Maybe Philly's finest should only be allowed to pack tasers while they are off duty as well.
