A 51-year-old man was killed on Friday in Southwest Philadelphia after he was shot by a police officer.
According to the Philadelphia Police, Ronald Singletary refused to drop a knife and had attempted to stab an officer before he was shot.
The incident occurred on Friday, May 12, around 2:42 a.m., after two officers – including the 12th District’s officer Robert Schutte, a two-year veteran of the force, who is said to have fired the fatal shot – responded to a call of a man violating a protection from abuse order at a home along the 1200 block S. 51st Street, law enforcement officials said.
Police said that it was their second trip to the residence that evening, as they had just been there about a half-hour earlier and had gotten Singletary to leave before.
Upon arrival, the officers were met by a 28-year-old woman who said that Singletary had returned with a knife and had used a key to re-enter the property, police said.
When the officers, confronted Singletary in the home, law enforcement officials said Singletary had made threats to officers and had secured himself behind the door in a second-floor bedroom, refusing to open the door to officers.
According to law enforcement officials, when police forced the door open to find Singletary wielding a ten-inch long knife, he refused to drop the weapon and lunged at one of the officers.
It was then that one of the officers shot Singletary once in the chest with a Taser, police said, knocking the man onto a bed.
However, police said, Singletary then stood up, still holding the knife, and moved towards officers a second time.
Law enforcement officials said that it was then that Schutte fired his weapon once, hitting Singletary in the chest.
According to police, Singletary was then transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:23 a.m.
Following the incident, police said that the fatal shooting is being investigated by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit and it will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office. Schutte has been placed on administrative duty during this investigation, police said.
