Deadly Police-Involved Shooting In Germantown
by Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A chaotic scene after police shoot and kill a man in the street in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood.
Emotions ran high as neighbors, family and friends confronted police, questioning the officers' use of deadly force.
The incident happened shortly before 9 p.m. on the 5600 block of Devon Street.
Shi Narmer, a neighbor said, "He never had a gun on him. He didn't carry a gun on him, he was only trying to go to the store real quick before they closed."
Marie Bell, the suspect's fiancée added, "All of a sudden, he's in the corner and pop pop pop, are you serious?"
While family claims police used excessive force, killing an unarmed neighborhood mechanic they identified as 35-year-old Belton Lomax, father of seven children, police maintain they were called to the scene by multiple 911 calls.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said, "Many people in the neighborhood called saying this person had a gun."
Police say the two responding officers were confronted by an armed man upon arrival.
Small said, "After this individual pointed the weapon at two uniformed officers and officers were forced to use deadly force the suspect when he collapsed. He dropped his weapon. The weapon that he dropped is a semi-automatic handgun, it's a Ruger."
Police say they recovered the weapon just about a foot away from the body. We are told the shooting remains under investigation but preliminarily, investigators believe this shooting was justified.
