Philadelphia police on Monday identified both the officer and the 32-year-old man he fatally shot last week during a confrontation outside St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
Joseph Smithers allegedly pulled a Smith and Wesson handgun from his waistband at a bus stop on Erie Avenue when he was shot multiple times by Officer Azieme Lindsey, the police department said.
“He did not fire his weapon,” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Thursday evening about Smithers.
A 29-year-old woman, identified last week by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel as Smithers’ girlfriend, sustained a graze wound to her neck. She was taken to Temple University Hospital to be treated. Bethel said Thursday evening that she was in good condition.
Lindsey and a second responding officer both had body-worn cameras that were activated during the encounter, the department said Monday.
Lindsey, 28, was placed on administrative duty while the shooting was being investigated by the police department and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
Just after 10:20 a.m. Thursday, two police officers responded to the area of St. Christopher’s after being dispatched for a report of a person with a weapon, the department said Monday.
It was later determined that the original 911 caller, described as a family member, had contacted police out of concern that Smithers was experiencing a mental health crisis and was suicidal, the department said.
It was also later determined that around the time of the 911 call from the family member, Smithers had been told by security that he was not allowed in the hospital because he had been asked to leave the day before and was no longer permitted on the property, the department said.
No explanation has been given for why Smithers was asked to leave on Wednesday, but Bethel said last week that Smithers was there because his son was at the hospital.
Smithers was “left without incident” when hospital security turned him away on Thursday, the department said.
“The hospital was at no time under threat,” Bethel said Thursday evening.
When Lindsey and the second officer — who were in full uniform and in a marked police vehicle — arrived at the hospital, they were met by a security officer who directed them to the nearby bus stop where Smithers was last seen, the department said.
As Lindsay exited the patrol vehicle, Smithers allegedly began moving backward while also pulling the gun, the department said. Lindsay then fired, striking Smithers multiple times.
Smithers was transported to Temple hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:44 a.m. Thursday.
The department said the handgun was legally possessed by Smithers, who had a permit to carry a concealed firearm.