A Lancaster Police Vehicle is seen in the city following a night of protests on September 14, 2020.
Kate Landis / WITF
Ahead of Lancaster County DA’s announcement, the family of Ricardo Munoz calls for greater transparency
Attorneys representing the Munoz family said in a statement that they have launched a civil investigation into the shooting.
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Tim Lambert/WITF
Kate Landis / WITF
A Lancaster Police Vehicle is seen in the city following a night of protests on September 14, 2020.
(Lancaster) — As the Lancaster County District Attorney prepares to release the results of his office’s investigation into the Sept. 13 fatal police shooting of Ricardo Munoz in Lancaster, the lawyer representing the man’s family is criticizing the decision not to press charges and the lack of transparency in the investigation.
“The District Attorney’s investigation raises more questions than it answers,” said Michael Perna, a co-counsel for the family, in a statement released Wednesday morning. “Ricardo was experiencing a medical crisis and his family sought professional intervention, so why didn’t Crisis Intervention do its job? Why wasn’t non-lethal force tried first?”
On the day of the incident, Munoz’s family called police for help because the 27-year-old, who had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was verbally aggressive with his mother.
His sister Rulennis Munoz contacted the Lancaster County crisis intervention service, which told her to call city police, so she dialed the non-emergency number to try to have her brother involuntarily committed.
What Rulennis didn’t know is that another family member had decided to call 911. Somewhere between that phone call and an officer arriving on scene, what began as an effort to get help for her 27-year-old brother was described to police as a “domestic disturbance.”
In the officer’s body camera video posted on social media, it showed Ricardo Munoz chasing the officer down a sidewalk with a knife before he was fatally shot.
The following video contains graphic footage. Viewer discretion is advised.
Hundreds of protesters later took to the streets of Lancaster following the shooting.
The officer was placed on administrative leave, which is department policy.
Attorneys from Levin and Perconti, who are representing the Munoz family, said in a statement today that they have launched a civil investigation into the shooting. They are calling for the release of the full unedited video from the body camera and the complete, unedited recordings of the calls to that led to the officer’s dispatch to the home.
“We are disappointed with this investigation and the conclusions the District Attorney reached, regarding Ricardo Munoz’s death,” said attorney Steven M. Levin. “Thus far, they have only selectively released information to the public with edited videos, failing to offer up the full videos to show what happened before and after the shooting.”
Lancaster County DA Heather Adams is scheduled to release her office’s findings at 11:30 a.m. today.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
