Columbus police with unprecedented swiftness release bodycam footage of fatal police shooting of Black teen, Ma’khia Bryant, 16, who was killed just minutes before Derek Chauvin was convicted
WARNING: Graphic Images
Columbus police try to avert a new wave of anger and protests over the fatal police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’khia Bryant on an already tense Tuesday
Within hours Columbus authorities released bodycam footage that appears to show the teen attempting to stab two other girls just minutes before Derek Chauvin was convicted, as protesters gather
Columbus Police released a statement that said one person was killed in the officer-involved shooting that took place on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon
Police did not reveal the identity of the victim, but her mother identified her as 16-year-old Ma’khia
Authorities had been responding to an initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm The shots fired call was made just 15 minutes later
Tuesday, Police Chief Michael Woods said oficers responding to a call found a female with a knife attempting to stab one person who was on the ground
This was followed by an attack on a second person who was pushed up against a vehicle
That the officer fired his weapon, four times
A woman at the scene, identified on Facebook as Shonnell Kelley, shared a series of videos from the shooting
Another Facebook user identified as Tay Jones shared in the post that thed that, “They, [police], shot a 15 year old black girl 4 times in the chest f*** 12!!!” for having a knife because somebody tried to jump her’
‘[Police] didn’t tell her to put it down didn’t ask questions or nothing & SHE the one called them for help. Smh F*** 12!!!!”,’ Jones wrote
Columbus police have released bodycam footage showing the officer shooting of Black teenager Ma’khia Bryant, 16, who was fatally gunned down just moments before Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the 2020 murder of George Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed Black man in Minnesota.
In an attempt to show more transparency and ease tensions as Black Lives Matter protesters descended on the scene, the police department released footage that appears to show the teen run out of her home with a knife.
Police in Columbus, Ohio show body cam footage of officer shooting, killing of 16-year-old Ma’khia Bryant on Tuesday
Bryant can be seen with a knife as she storms out of the home and towards another teen girl. Backing up the intended target starts falling backwards. Just then Bryant turns her attention towards another teenager at the scene and runs towards her as the officer opens fire, sending her to the ground.
People can immediately be heard screaming in shock and horror as the scene unfolds.
Officers could be seen looking over Bryant’s body in the footage.
Columbus Police said earlier on Tuesday that one person was killed in the officer-involved shooting that took place on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, in the afternoon.
The officer who opened fire was not identified. Police Chief Michael Woods said he ‘would be taken off the street’ pending an investigation.
Ma’khia Bryant – identified by her mother on social media – was taken to Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition but was pronounced dead at 5.21pm, WCMH reports.
‘She was a good kid. She was loving,’ Hazel Bryant, the girl’s aunt, told reporters on the street. ‘She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street.’
Though she was originally reported by her aunt as 15, her age has now been updated to 16.
Police had been responding to a report of a stabbing before the fatal shooting. A witness said Ma’khia Bryant, who Hazel Bryant said lived in a foster home, got into an altercation with another resident of the home and was armed with the knife to defend herself when police arrived.
Michael Woods, interim chief of police said they had been responding to an initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm. The shots fire call was made just 15 minutes later. The state of Ohio is “conducting a criminal investigation into this incident,” Woods said. He played three additional body cam videos, Woods said He also played two 911 calls.
“Officers attempted life-saving measures almost immediately after the shots were fired,” said Woods.
In the first 911 call, you can hear chaos in the background.
“Get here now!” a female says, telling the dispatcher, “We got…girls here trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put her hands on our grandma. We need a police officer here now.”
In the second 911 call, a different female says, “Oh never mind the police are already here. Never mind thank you.”
Bryant’s family has claimed that Bryant herself called police, but police said they couldn’t confirm or deny that.
Crisp wrote, “Paula Bryant tells me her 16 year-old daughter Ma’Khia Bryant was an honor roll student and a sweet child. Ma’Khia was shot and killed by a Columbus Division of Police officer on Legion Lane at 4:30p today.” On Facebook, Paula Bryant says she’s a nursing assistant.
“This is the racist a** b**** that shot this poor f****** girl,” a woman said in a live stream video on Facebook. She said the officer said the girl “tried to stab him.”
“That’s someone’s f****** daughter b****,” the woman said in a graphic live stream. You can watch it here and below, but be aware it’s disturbing.
Authorities said they responded to the initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm. The shots fired call was made just 15 minutes later.
Columbus Police have requested Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to respond to the scene and investigate the shooting.
Woods said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) had opened an inquiry into the case. He and the city’s public safety director, Ned Pettus, Jr., appealed for calm while the investigation proceeds and facts are uncovered in what he called ‘a devastating’ loss of life.
‘Fast, quick answers cannot come at the cost of accurate answers,’ Pettus told a late news conference with the police chief and mayor.
‘BCI will conduct a fully independent investigation, which will be made public. If an officer has violated policy or the law, if they have, they will be held accountable.’
Protesters soon convened at the crime scene and called for action after witnesses described what led to the shooting. Several could be seen praying over the scene while others screamed at the police for the shooting taking place just moments after the verdict for former Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin was read. Columbus Police provide update on deadly officer involved shooting.
‘She was a good kid. She was loving,’ Hazel Bryant, the victim’s aunt, told reporters on the street. ‘She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street.’ Her age has since been updated to 16.
Hazel Bryant said Makhia dropped the knife before she was shot dead.
10TV reports that Makhia called police because the girls were fighting in front of her house.
A woman at the scene – identified on Facebook as Shonnell Kelley – shared a series of videos from the shooting, including one of the officer who allegedly shot the teen.
‘This is the racist a*s b***h, that shot this poor f*****g girl,’ she said in one clip, showing the officer and just part of the girl’s body. ‘I’m not going to put this sh*t on camera but he shot this f*****g girl, talking about she is trying to stab him. Da f**k, this is somebody’s f****g daughter. B***h!’
Kelley shared in the post that the teen had the knife because ‘somebody tried to jump her’ and added that she was the one who called for help.
According to Kelley, the cop ‘didn’t tell her to put it down didn’t ask questions or nothing.’
Another witness identified as Tay Jones who posted the videos of teh incident to her Facebook page.
In one of her posts Jones claimed that, “They, [police], shot a 15 year old black girl 4 times in the chest f*** 12!!!”
She claimed Facebook removed a post in which she wrote, “this is the f****** that shot her her 4 times in the chest for having a knife because somebody tried to jump her didn’t tell her to put it down didn’t ask questions or nothing & SHE the one called them for help. Smh F*** 12!!!!”
Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther said authorities would be reviewing the bodycam footage.
‘This afternoon a young woman tragically lost her life. We do not know all of the details,’ he said on Twitter. ‘There is body-worn camera footage of the incident. We are working to review it as soon as possible,’ he said in a statement released on Twitter.
Ginther said it appeared from an initial review of the footage that the officer who opened fire ‘took action to protect another young girl in our community.’
‘But another young girl will still not be coming home tonight, he said, adding, ‘I ask everyone to pray for peace. Tonight we pray for this family, we pray for this city, and we pray for our neighbors,’ Ginther said.
Authorities have not provided any additional information but Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther added that there is ‘body-worn camera footage of the incident’.
The mayor asked for residents to ‘remain calm’ and allow the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to look into the case
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