After awaiting answers for over a year, the family of police shooting victim Richard Ferretti recently filed a lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia and three police officers for the wrongful shooting death of Richard last May. Eisenberg Winkler Jeck Schwartz Schoenhaus & Sherry, P.C., attorney Todd Schoenhaus is representing the Ferretti family in the lawsuit. We first began covering the Richard Ferretti police shooting on our blog in November and continue to provide updates as the situation unfolds, including a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article on where things stand in the Ferretti shooting investigation one year later.
Why Did Police Shoot an Unarmed Man While He Was Looking for a Parking Spot?
On the night Richard Ferretti was shot and killed, he had reportedly gone out to the gas station in his minivan to get gas for another car he and his girlfriend shared, which had run out of gas. As he was returning to his neighborhood, he was driving around searching for parking. During this time, police received a call about a “suspicious” minivan driving in the area where Richard was searching for a parking spot. Undercover police officers nearby tracked down Richard in his minivan as he continued to search for parking. The officers called for backup.
Uniformed police officers in a squad car responded to the backup request. After the police officers in the squad car pulled up behind Richard’s minivan with their flashing lights on, Richard reportedly kept driving.
As a result, the undercover officers pulled in front of Richard’s minivan in their unmarked car. The undercover officers exited their vehicle and ordered Richard to stop his van and turn off the engine. Police claim that instead of stopping, Richard pulled forward, which led to one of the officers pulling his gun and shooting Richard four times. However, according to witnesses, before he was shot, Richard was yelling, “I’m stopping!”
