The police chief said “few” officers provided help before the doctors arrived, and the mayor said he was “horrified” by the time that passed before any officer tried to provide help.
Both promise accountability as a result of a thorough investigation after dozens of research materials, including the body camera video, were released Thursday by the department.
Chief Thomas Quinlan said that while responding officers did not use lethal force, “few provided first aid to Mr. Hill while waiting for a doctor.”
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther echoed the sentiment of the chief in a statement saying, “I am horrified by the time that passed before any officer gave help to Mr. Hill.”
“Our agents are trained to provide potentially life-saving and at least comfortable care in these situations,” he said.
They both say one of the core values of the Columbus Police Division is “compassion,” and little or nothing was shown as shown in the video.
Hill’s family and his lawyer said the body camera footage is further evidence that his death was “unnecessary and unjustifiable.”
Ginther said he directed the chief to “investigate the facts of December 22 thoroughly and thoroughly and demand accountability from all officers who were unable to meet the Division’s rules.”
“We are investigating to find out who confirmed the policies and standards of the Columbus Police Division and who did not,” said Quinlan, who noted a lot of video review and interviews that are part of that process.
CNN contacted Coy’s attorney Thursday to comment on criticism of the mayor and police chief.
Coy’s body camera didn’t capture audio because it didn’t activate it until after filming. But a rewind function captured 60 seconds of video without audio before Coy turned on the camera.
Coy and the other officer had been sent on a riot call by someone who was “continuously restarting a gray SUV” and found Hill inside a garage. According to their interview, they both had their weapons stretched and approximated at an angle from opposite sides.
Coy asked Hill to leave the garage and Hill did not respond verbally, but began to leave the garage.
Hill’s left hand had a cell phone but his right hand was “hidden behind his leg.” According to published reports, Hill had dropped his left hand before Coy shot him, but the video of Coy passing by is not clearly seen.
Quinlan said he has recently tightened policies on cameras carried by the body and the duty to provide first aid.
“As a police chief and as a human being, the events of the last week have left me shaken and heartbroken for Andre Hill’s family,” Quinlan said. “I will not tolerate these failures being repeated. And when the officers fail, they will be held accountable.”
The family criticizes the police response after posting the video
Lawyer Ben Crump addressed reporters after the release of the body camera footage, congratulating the city on its transparency efforts, but asked, “Where is Andre Hill’s humanity?”
“What’s Andre Hill’s crime?” Crump said. “Is it because he’s a black man and, for whatever reason, the American police shoot first and ask questions afterwards?”
His family also reacted to the images, saying it was horrible to see him.
“No one had any kind of human emotion or sympathy for this dying man who was breathing out of breath,” said Alvin Williams, Hill’s younger brother. “And then you detain him worse than a caged animal. Not just for Columbus, Ohio, I say that for all the police forces in this country. Your hunting season is over.”
The family also stressed that they want to work to ensure that something like this does not happen again.
“We need to have a change,” Michelle Hairston said. “Because no one should keep going through it. We shouldn’t go through it over and over again. We need something to happen.”
Crump also said Clarissa Hill, Andre Hill’s daughter, is interested in working on legislation to force officers to put on body cameras or be fired.
The family described Hill as a kind man with various interests, including chess, cooking, and helping his family with projects in the house.
CNN’s Peter Nickeas and Sonia Moghe contributed to this report.