Philadelphia police ID officers who fatally shot a 25-year-old man in May
Police said that Bruce Harry Garcia allegedly possessed a ghost gun and fired it from inside a black bag he was holding during a struggle with two officers.
Nearly two months after two officers fatally shot a man during a struggle in the city’s Fairhill section, the police department on Monday identified the officers and the 25-year-old man who was killed and provided an updated account of what allegedly happened.
The department said Bruce Harry Garcia allegedly possessed a ghost gun and fired it from inside a black bag he was holding during a struggle with Officer Edward Lane and Officer Matthew Galdo on May 21.
Lane, 32, a member of the force for 11 years, and Galdo, 29, a member for five years, have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of investigations by the police Internal Affairs Bureau, the Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit, and the District Attorney’s Office, the department said Monday.
On May 21 just before 6:40 p.m., Lane and Galdo were in uniform in a marked patrol vehicle when they “observed Garcia holding a black bag” around Front and Somerset Streets, the department said.
When the 25th District officers attempted to stop Garcia, he allegedly ran westbound on Somerset. Lane ran after Garcia while Galdo followed in the police vehicle, the department said.
The officers caught up with Garcia at Mutter and Somerset Streets and a struggle ensued. The department said the officers tackled Garcia, “attempting to prevent him from accessing the handgun in his bag.”
During the struggle, “Garcia was in the process of pulling out a Privately Manufactured Firearm (P-80 9MM) from the bag and discharged it, firing through the bag.”
Lane and Galdo fired their weapons, striking Garcia in the chest, the department said. The officers then transported Garcia to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m.
The officers suffered scrapes on their knees but did not require medical treatment.
Lane and Galdo had body cameras that captured some of the incident, but they were knocked off during the struggle, the department said. Police recovered other video of the incident, and reviewed body camera footage from another officer who responded to the scene.
The department said that because the ghost gun “was inside the bag at the time of discharge, it was not able to recoil properly. This interference may have led to a malfunction, specifically that the fired cartridge casing did not eject from the chamber.”
The department did not elaborate on what prompted the officers to stop Garcia other than he was carrying a black bag, or whether they possibly had some other evidence that he was carrying a gun.
BreakThrough News, an online news outlet, reported in early June that Garcia’s family raised questions about the incident and why he died.