Cellphone video obtained by NBC10 shows a fight at South Philly’s iconic Pat’s Steaks moments before a deadly shooting took place outside the restaurant.
On July 22, shortly before 1 a.m., police responded to Pat’s King of Steaks along the 1200 block of South 9th Street for a report of a person with a gun. When they arrived they found 23-year-old David Padro, Jr. of Camden, New Jersey, suffering from a gunshot wound to the lower back.
Padro was taken to Jefferson University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m.
Paul Burkert, 36, of Reading, Pennsylvania, later turned himself in. He was arrested and charged with murder, tampering with evidence, conspiracy and other offenses. Investigators also said Burkert is a convicted drug offender and was not allowed to have a gun. Charles Peruto, Burkert’s attorney, also told NBC10 his client did not have legal possession of the gun.
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Cellphone video obtained by NBC10 shows the final seconds of a fight between Padro, wearing a pink shirt, and Burkert, wearing a dark-colored shirt and backwards cap, at Pat’s Steaks prior to the shooting. The video does not show the shooting however nor what led to the fight.
Peruto insisted his client acted in self-defense.
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"My client tried to throw a punch and then he was choked out to the point where he thought his head was gonna get ripped off,” Peruto said. “Finally reached for his gun. Shot one time. Doesn't even know where he hit him."
Peruto claimed the fight began when Burkert tapped Padro’s car outside the restaurant. He also said there were more videos of the fight.
"People took out their cellphones and started videoing him because he became so irate. And that's why we have videos,” Peruto said. “There's three different videos from people who took it out and thankfully, the bull rush is on it."
A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office told NBC10 they are currently looking at videos as part of their investigation.
Meanwhile, Padro’s father, David Padro, Sr., remains in disbelief as he continues to grieve.
"I will never get my son back,” he said. “So for him going to jail forever or something like that, it's a certain part of justice that he's gonna get. But am I ever gonna be happy about what happened? Nah."
Padro, Sr. told NBC10 Burkert antagonized his son and that the video as well as the self-defense claim from Peruto only adds insult to injury.
"My opinion, no, it's not self-defense,” Padro, Sr. said. “That's murder to me. He was doing a lot of racial slurs to my son. This, that and the third and that's when it escalated. For my son to be that way was completely wild. That was the first time I've seen my son ever get into a fight."
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
