Woman contradicts police about fatal shooting of son

The mother of a man shot dead by police Friday night during what police described as a drug bust contradicted official accounts yesterday that her son had pulled a gun and called for a thorough investigation of the case.

Pamela Goode, 41, whose son was a great-nephew of former Mayor Wilson Goode, said a surgeon at Temple University Hospital, where her son was taken after the shooting, told her he had been shot twice in the back. She said eyewitnesses also said her son ran from the plainclothes narcotics police officers because he feared for his own safety.

"My son was shot twice in the back," Goode, a secretary for the city school system, said in an interview at her home on Pratt Street in Northeast Philadelphia. "We have police officers imposing crimes on civilians. If they need more training, then give them more training."

Her son, Timothy J. Goode, 24, was shot late Friday in Germantown by an officer who was part of a plainclothes team staking out the area of the 200 block of Clapier Street, where there reportedly have been numerous drug transactions.

Police have said Goode was shot once in the side, and once in the lower back. They said a 9mm handgun and a bag containing 45 vials of crack were found nearby.

The city's new police commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, said in a telephone interview yesterday that a preliminary check suggested Timothy Goode did not have an adult police record. But he said records also suggested that he may have had several guns registered under his name.

"The investigation is taking place now, and that is when all the facts will be known; he apparently had a gun, and it was recovered," Ramsey said, adding that he could not pass judgment on Pamela Goode's account because the investigation had only begun.

Pamela Goode said she rushed to the scene after receiving a telephone call from relatives that there had been a police shooting in Germantown and that her son might have been involved. She said there were police surveillance cameras in the area, but it was unclear yesterday whether they would help to clarify what happened Friday.

The police have declined to identify the officer involved in the shooting, who they said had been put on administrative leave until their investigation is complete. That is standard procedure.

Former Mayor Goode, who is now a minister, said yesterday that Timothy Goode was his brother's grandson and that he "loved him dearly."

Asked whether he had any concern about how police officials conducted themselves in regard to Timothy Goode's shooting, he said: "I don't know anything except that, when someone is shot in the back, it raises questions that need to be objectively looked at."

But, he quickly added: "I don't have reason to suspect one thing or another."

"I have full confidence in Mayor Nutter and Commissioner Ramsey . . . that, at the end of the investigation, there will be a complete and objective report."

Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, said Timothy Goode was involved in a drug deal Friday night in Germantown.

Vanore said that when police moved in Timothy Goode ran to Logan Street and turned toward police with a gun. Officers shot him twice. He died at Temple University Hospital.

Both Pamela Goode and former Mayor Goode maintained yesterday that Timothy Goode had had no previous involvement with the police.

Pamela Goode said that her son graduated first in his class at Mercy Vocational High School, that he was a skilled keyboard player, and that he had been aiming for a career as a rap musician.

Her husband, Timothy A. Goode, is a labor foreman with the Philadelphia Housing Authority, she said.

Mayor Nutter said yesterday that he had expressed his condolences to both former Mayor Goode and Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr.

In an unrelated case in North Philadelphia early Saturday, police shot and killed Trevar Cephas, 21, who police said drew a gun despite an order not to.