PHILADELPHIA - A judge threw out murder charges Tuesday against a former Philadelphia police officer accused of fatally shooting a Black man in the back as he ran.
Ryan Pownall, 40, was facing third-degree murder charges in the 2017 shootingof 30-year-old David Jones. Pownall is accused of shooting Jones in the back as he ran from a traffic stop.
Court records show that the third-degree charge, as well as reckless endangerment and weapons counts, were ‘quashed’ Tuesday after a motions hearing before a common pleas court. RELATED COVERAGE:FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby responded to the dropped charges in a statement, reading in-part: "We promised a vigorous defense against all the charges and happy to see that all criminal charges were dismissed...
and we now begin the work to get Ryan Pownall re-instated to his job, protecting our great city."Pownall stopped Jones for riding a dirt bike on a city street, frisked him and felt a gun.