NEWSPolice Release Body Cam Footage Of Officer Shooting Black Ohio Teen
Police in Columbus, Ohio have released bodycam footage of an officer fatally shooting a Black teenage girl on Tuesday, April 20.
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation is looking into the case, but the city wanted to give the public more information by releasing the footage.
The incident occurred moments before the verdict of Derek Chauvin's trial in the death of George Floyd was released. In the clips, the teen appeared to attempt to stab two people with a knife, USA Today reported.
Officers reportedly responded to a 911 call where a caller said a female was trying to stab them before hanging up.
In the video, an officer approached a driveway where there was a group of people. The girl appears to push or swing at someone who falls to the ground and then seems to swing a knife at a girl on the hood of a car. The officer then fired his weapon serval times, hitting the girl.
A black-handled blade, similar to that of a kitchen knife or steak knife, appeared to be lying on the sidewalk next to the girl after she fell.
Later on Tuesday, Franklin County Children's Services confirmed that the girl killed was Ma’Khia Bryant, who was aged 16 and in foster care. Bryant was reportedly taken to the Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition where she was pronounced dead. It has not been confirmed if anyone else was injured.
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Hazel Bryant, who said she is Bryant's aunt, told The Columbus Dispatch, that her niece lived in a foster home on Legion Lane and got into an altercation with someone else at the home. According to Hazel, her niece had the knife but said that she dropped it before she was shot.
Protestors reportedly gathered outside Legion Lane and the city's police headquarters to protest on the same night.
"We are in a literal genocide. We are fighting for our lives," Hana Abdur-Rahim of the Black Abolitionists Collective said, according to USA Today.
"We're going to need to have the utmost transparency as we go through and learn more (about the latest incident). But the truth is that nothing that we will do will bring this young baby girl back. Nothing will stop the family from grieving," Council president Shannon Hardin reportedly said at a council committee meeting on Tuesday.
"It's a tragic day in the city of Columbus. It's a horrible, heartbreaking situation," Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said. "We felt transparency in sharing this footage, as incomplete as it is at this time" was critical.
Interim Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods said that officers are authorized to use deadly force to protect themselves or a third party but an investigation is needed to determine if the actions of the officers were justified.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave, per standard policy following a shooting.
"She could be my grandchild," Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. said but urged the public to be patient as the investigation is ongoing. "In any way you look at this, it's a tragedy."
