December 25 there was a second shooting of African-Americans in Ohio, United States. According to the footage of police portable cameras released on December 23, a Columbus policeman shot less than 10 seconds after contact with an African-American man, causing the latter. He died of his wounds.
According to reports, the police said that the deceased was Andre Maurice Hill of 47 and the police involved were Adam Coy. The video shows that when Coy shot, Hill was walking in the direction of the police, holding a mobile phone in his left hand. After that, Coy took a few steps back and pulled the trigger.
Columbus City Public Security Bureau said that the shooting was caused by a neighbor who filed a noise complaint on the 22nd, so the police went to the residential area northwest of Columbus to investigate. Coy and another policeman were equipped with a carry-on camera, but did not turn on until after the shooting, the agency said. However, this portable camera has a 60-second “playback” function, that is, it can record 60 seconds of silent pictures before the camera is turned on, so the whole shooting process is still filmed.
According to the report, in the footage taken by the police after turning on the camera, he can be heard shouting out loudly at Hill, who is lying on the ground and moaning in pain, asking him to put his hands beside him. After that, Hill was sent to the hospital and died of his wounds. No weapons were found at the scene.
Columbus City Police Commissioner Thomas Quinlan said he was “uneasy about the preliminary facts”. The shooting case is now referred to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the State Criminal Investigation Bureau.
In a statement, state Attorney General Dave Yost said on December 23 that investigators “will conduct a comprehensive, independent, and professional investigation to find the truth.” Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Hill’s family, stressed in a statement that night that Hill had only one mobile phone in his hand when he was shot dead.
The shooting was the second incident in Columbus City in a month when police shot African Americans. Less than three weeks ago, another African-American little (Casey Goodson Jr.) Shot dead by a deputy sheriff in Franklin County, the city, triggered a popular protest.
