No charges will be filed in Germantown canvasser shooting, District Attorney’s Office says
Philadelphia prosecutors said the fatal shooting between two canvassers for political group One PA self-defense.
Prosecutors will not charge a 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a 46-year-old in East Germantown on Monday afternoon while both were canvassing for a political group. Authorities say the shooting was in self-defense.
Jane Roh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said Friday that both their office and the Police Department were in agreement about what happened between two paid canvassers for the progressive group One PA.
“This is nonetheless a tragic loss of life,” Roh said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the decedent.”
Meanwhile, family members of the victim, Eddie Brokenbough, were distraught to learn the father of 10 had been shot, and doubted police accounts of the shooting.
Reports spread that Brokenbough, who was shot once in the armpit and rushed from the 2000 block of Church Lane to a nearby hospital, had pulled a gun on the 22-year-old canvasser, causing the younger man to shoot in what he told police was self-defense.
Both men knew each other, police said, and the shooting stemmed from an “argument,” possibly over an existing dispute.
One PA has said guns are not permitted in its offices or during canvassing, and it has temporarily suspended its canvassing efforts.
The group is an independent expenditure committee that can raise and spend money to boost candidates but is prohibited from directly coordinating with them. This year, the group knocked on doors to promote mayoral candidate Helen Gym and a slate of left-leaning City Council candidates.
Brokenbough was not legally permitted to carry a firearm because of charges in a 2012 shooting, court records show. He was a paid temporary canvasser for OnePA on and off since 2021, the group said. The 22-year-old shooter has been employed by the group since last year.
A spokesperson for OnePA said Tuesday that it complies with laws prohibiting background checks on employees and wouldn’t discuss Brokenbough’s background during the investigation.
One PA Executive Director Steve Paul said following the shooting that the organization was “heartbroken, and our condolences and sympathy are with their family.”
Staff writers Sean Collins Walsh and Anna Orso contributed.