The Biden-Harris campaign expressed its condolences after the police shooting death of Walter Wallace in Philadelphia in a statement released Tuesday. The candidates acknowledged that the entire incident stemmed from a mental health crisis that led to a tragedy.
“We cannot accept that in this country a mental health crisis ends in death. It makes the shock and grief and violence of yesterday’s shooting that much more painful, especially for a community that has already endured so much trauma,” the statement read. Walter Wallace’s life, like too many others’, was a Black life that mattered — to his mother, to his family, to his community, to all of us.
Wallace was killed Monday afternoon when police, responding to his family’s 911 call, confronted him on their street in West Philadelphia. As he carried a knife, his mother shouted for him to drop it, while begging police not to shoot because he was having a mental health episode. When he walked into the street, as onlookers also called on two officers not to shoot, they opened fire, hitting him with 14 shots. He died later at a nearby hospital.

The 27-year-old husband and father of eight children had been diagnosed as bipolar and was receiving medical treatment for his condition, according to his family’s lawyer.
RELATED: Walter Wallace Case: Philadelphia Man Described As Close To His Family, But Struggled With Mental Illness

Philadelphia has experienced two nights of unrest as a result of the shooting with peaceful protesters continuing to ask for answers and wait for the results of a police investigation promised by police officials, according to CBS Philadelphia.
Biden and Harris also called for an end to the unrest that has taken place.

“...No amount of anger at the very real injustices in our society excuses violence. Attacking police officers and vandalizing small businesses, which are already struggling during a pandemic, does not bend the moral arc of the universe closer to justice. It hurts our fellow citizens,” the statement said. “Looting is not a protest, it is a crime. It draws attention away from the real tragedy of a life cut short.”