Ma’Khia Bryant: Columbus police release body camera footage in shooting of 16-year-old
In an unprecedented move, Columbus police showed body camera footage of the shooting of a 16-year-old girl by a Columbus police officer just hours after the incident on the Southeast Side.
The shooting, which happened about 20 minutes before a guilty verdict was announced in the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd, prompted hundreds to protest at the shooting site and Downtown.
Ma’Khia Bryant: What we know about the 16-year-old girl fatally shot by Columbus police
The video shows an officer approaching a driveway with a group of young people standing there. In the video, it appears that the 16-year-old, identified now as Ma’Khia Bryant, who was moments later shot by police, pushes or swings at a person, who falls to the ground.
Bryant then appears to swing a knife at a girl who is on the hood of a car, and the officer fires his weapon what sounds like four times, striking Bryant, who died a short time later.
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Interim Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods said officers are authorized to use deadly force to protect themselves or a third party. He said the investigation still needs to be completed to determine if the actions of the officers were justified. He said the officer, who was not named, has been placed on administrative leave.
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Additional from Epoch times article:
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The video shows an officer approaching a driveway where a group of people are standing, soon after which Bryant, who can be seen holding a knife, appears to try to hit or stab another girl, who falls to the ground.
Bryant then turns around and tries to hit or stab another girl in pink clothing. The officer then opens fire at Bryant, after which she falls to the ground.
A black-handled blade resembling a kitchen or steak knife appeared to be lying on the sidewalk next to her immediately after she was shot and fell.
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Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther previously announced on Twitter that on Tuesday afternoon “a young woman tragically lost her life.” He added that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) was on the scene to carry out an independent investigation, a common protocol with all Columbus Police Department-involved shootings.
“We will share information that we can as soon as it becomes available. I’m asking for residents to remain calm and allow BCI to gather the facts,” he wrote at the time.
Ginther later said at the news conference, “We know based on this footage the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community.”
Woods told reporters that police were dispatched to the scene on the city’s Southeast Side just after 4:35 p.m., after a caller reported that females were there trying to stab them and put their hands on them.