Shaka Johnson: Latest News

CENTER CITY - As more information comes to light regarding the Roxborough High School shooting, one thing is certain and that is too many kids are getting involved in crime across the area.One of the victims from that shooting had a connection to a carjacking case and kids as young as 14 keep getting arrested."The biggest thing is the lack of hope. They’re more afraid of living then they are to die,"RELATED COVERAGE:As Philadelphia approaches the staggering number of 1,000 murders in just two years, residents who grew up and live in the neighborhoods are trying to fight back against the unprecedented violence.Philadelphia police, earlier this year, flagged a disturbing trend – young people are increasingly becoming both the victim and the perpetrators in the crimes."Your prefrontal cortex, your frontal lobe, doesn’t develop until you’re 25 and that’s your decision-making tool," Taj Murdock explained.Murdock is the founder of Men of Courage, a non-profit aimed at helping 12 to 18-year-old young men find a purpose.Murdock himself was once a juvenile in jail.

MEDIA, Pa. - Lawyers for three former officers charged in the deadly shooting of 8-year-old Fanta Bility argued Monday to have some of the charges dismissed.Officers Devon Smith, Sean Dolan, and Brian Devaney were each charged with a total of twelve criminal counts of manslaughter and reckless endangerment, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announced in January. The charges stemmed from a shooting outside an Academy Park High School football game in late August 2021. Investigators believe at least two shots were fired in the direction of the officers, who were monitoring the crowd as they exited the football stadium following the conclusion of that night's game.The officers returned fire, shooting toward a car they believed was involved in the initial gunfire, striking the car and members of the crowd.

PHILADELPHIA - In the fallout of the police-involved shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr., family attorney Shaka Johnson argued Friday that the Philadelphia Police Department failed to adhere to a 2015 Department of Justice report urging the department to outfit uniformed officers with tasers.According to Johnson, a federal probe into the department concluded that all Philadelphia police officers should be issued a taser as a standard utility. An Electronic Control Weapon, according to the findings presented by Johnson, would lead to far less deadly force incidents by police. Officers shot and killed Wallace Jr.

PHILADELPHIA - The family of Walter Wallace Jr.