In the summer of 2017, the life of 30-year-old David Jones, a Black man, was cut short on the streets of Philadelphia. On June 8th, Jones was riding his dirt bike near the intersection of Whitaker and Hunting Park Avenues when he was stopped by Philadelphia police officer Ryan Pownall. Pownall, a white officer, was transporting a father and two children to the Special Victims Unit at the time of the stop.
During the stop, Pownall conducted a pat-down of Jones and discovered a gun in his
waistband. A struggle ensued between the two men. Accounts of what happened next vary, but it is reported that Jones's gun was dropped and he began to run away from the officer. As Jones fled, Pownall fired his weapon multiple times, striking him twice in the back. Jones was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Surveillance footage from a nearby diner captured part of the incident. Investigators later found Jones's weapon about 30 feet away from where he was killed.
The shooting of David Jones sparked immediate protests and calls for justice from his family and community activists. In response to the growing public pressure and an investigation into the incident, then-Police Commissioner Richard Ross fired Pownall in September 2017. A year later, in a rare move against a law enforcement officer, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced that a grand jury had recommended Pownall be charged with murder and reckless endangerment for the on-duty shooting.
The legal proceedings that followed saw the initial first-degree murder charge against Pownall reduced to third-degree murder. In October 2018, the city of Philadelphia agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to the family of David Jones, without admitting any wrongdoing on the part of the city. The criminal trial against Ryan Pownall experienced delays due to legal challenges regarding the state's use-of-force law for police officers. Pownall was eventually released on bail to await his trial.
