Eric Garner's Mother Speaks Out On Fatal Police Shooting Of Walter Wallace Jr. In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An attorney for Walter Wallace Jr.'s family spoke Friday about the release of the bodycam footage and 911 calls of the police shooting that left Wallace dead. The press conference included members of the Wallace family, local pastors, and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed by a New York City police officer in 2014.

Carr says she spoke on behalf of Wallace's mother.

"We have to stop the police from being the first responders. They are not trained to be the first responders for mentally-ill people. We have people who went to school for years in this training. Police have more gun training than they have on-the-job training to deal with the mentally ill. So that's why they shoot first and ask questions later," Carr said.

The group is calling for police reform and the use of non-lethal equipment, like tasers.

Still, the family says they are not pushing for the officers involved to be charged.

"The patriarch of the Wallace family has decided to leave that determination to the district attorney, the law man of the land. Leave it to him. If I felt that we were in incapable hands in that respect, I might be saying something different. The decision will be made and the family has decided to live with whatever that decision may be," Wallace family attorney Shaka Johnson said.

The families of other victims of police killings, including Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, are said to be planning a visit to Philadelphia to support the Wallace family.

A funeral for Wallace is set for Saturday.

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