An officer who witnessed Andre Hill’s fatal shooting in Ohio told investigators she did not see Hill posing a threat before he was killed, according to documents obtained by CBS News. The officer who shot Hill, identified as Adam Coy, was fired Monday by the city’s director of public safety after the Columbus police chief called the shooting “horrific” and recommended it be completed.
Previously posted body camera images showed Coy approaching Hill, a 47-year-old black man, while standing inside a garage on Dec. 22. Hill walked over to Coy grabbing his cell phone and Coy opened fire after a few seconds. Then Hill fell to the ground as Coy yelled at him to show his hands. The video did not show Coy providing any medical help to Hill, who was treated by doctors several minutes later. Hill was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Coy did not turn on the body camera before approaching Hill, but a 60-second automatic “look back” feature, activated when Coy turned on the camera after filming, captured the incident without sound.
The December 23 interview of police investigators with Officer Amy Detweiler, documented in a summary obtained Tuesday by CBS News, provides more details about the events that led to the deadly shooting. Detweiler told investigators he responded to the scene after receiving reports from a person turning on and off the engine of an SUV around 1:30 p.m. He said Coy, who was already at the scene, told him Hill had parked the SUV and was entering a garage. He said he saw no conversation between Coy and Hill.
Detweiler said that when she and Coy approached the garage, Hill was standing inside without entering the residence. When Coy asked Hill to leave the garage in a “normal tone of voice,” Hill did not respond verbally, but began to leave, he said.
According to the interview summary, Detweiler told investigators that Hill was walking toward her with a cell phone in his hand. “He did not observe any threats from Mr. Hill,” the summary says. Detweiler said Hill turned to Coy and dropped his left hand. Detweiler told investigators he could not see his right side, but said he did not see any weapons.
Shortly afterwards, Detweiler said he heard Coy shout, “There’s a gun in his hand, there’s a gun in his hand.” followed by shots. Detweiler did not provide any information about what happened after the shooting.
Benjamin Crump
CBS News also obtained Coy’s administrative investigation from Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, which was sent to the city’s director of public safety as part of the recommendation that Coy be fired. In the report, Quinlan noted that Coy “reacted with deep anguish using profane words when he realized Mr. Hill was unarmed” and said Coy could be felt in his body’s camera “physically ill.” after the shooting.
However, Quinlan wrote that “Officer Coy’s use of force was not objectively reasonable, he did not use trained techniques, he did not use his BWC properly, and he did not provide medical assistance.”
“Officer Coy’s handling of this career is not a ‘novice’ mistake as a result of negligence or inadvertence, but the decisions made (sic) and the actions taken were reckless and deliberate. Quinlan added.
Quinlan also said, without elaborating, that “I responded to many filming scenes involving officers and spoke to many officers after these critical incidents. There was something very different about the officer’s engagement after ‘this critical incident which is difficult to describe for this letter.
Quinlan also included an excerpt from a letter he wrote in 2008 while serving as Coy’s patrol lieutenant, in which he wrote: “If sustained improvements are not fully realized, a decision must be made as to whether the “If the interventions described above do not produce the desired results, a change towards termination would be guaranteed, as the service of Officer Coy in the Police Division will have lost all future value.” Quinlan did not delve into what motivated the 2008 letter.
Quinlan publicly announced his recommendation that Coy be fired on December 24th. Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. fired Coy after a hearing Monday.
“Adam Coy’s actions do not meet the oath of a Columbus police officer, nor the standards that we and the community demand of our officers,” Pettus said. Coy did not attend the hearing, according to a representative of his police union.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents Hill’s family, on Monday valued the shooting as the “right decision.” He also issued a statement Tuesday in response to Detweiler’s claim that Coy said Hill had a gun before he fired, and wrote that “The rampant mindset of police to shoot first and ask questions later when it’s about a black person is incontrovertible evidence that blacks live. ” It doesn’t matter to too many police officers. ”
“Even though Officer Coy vowed to protect and defend him, he stopped fulfilling another innocent black life. Forget about second-hand rights, blacks don’t even have the right to carry a cell phone without face a deadly risk, “Crump added. .
Although the administrative investigation into Coy has been resolved, several investigations continue. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the death of Hill, who according to a preliminary autopsy report ruled a homicide, and Quinlan is still investigating other officers present at the scene for failing to turn on his body cameras or lend help Hill.
The city’s deputy director of public safety said Detweiler has been reassigned to administrative duties while the investigation continues.
Coy’s lawyer told CBS News that his team expects the Office of Criminal Investigation and the Attorney General’s Office to “complete a fair and thorough investigation that will be transparent and guided by the jurisprudence and directors (sic) described by the cases.” of the Supreme Court guiding the use of force actions “. Coy has not released any public statement on the shooting.
Nathalie Nieves and Erica Scott contributed to the communication.