Columbus police “cannot defend” camera footage recently released from the shooting death of an unarmed Ohio resident, Andre Hill, which shows officers are delaying medical assistance to Hill after the shooting. The death of Hill, a 47-year-old black man at the hands of police officer Adam Coy, sparked national outrage.
“Andre Hill should be alive today,” Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said Thursday in a video statement. “A Columbus police officer is responsible for her death. I can’t defend her, I can’t do well, but I will do what is in my power.”
Newly released body camera footage shows the deadly shooting of Hill, to which a guest of the residence’s police responded. Around 1:30 a.m., the video shows Hill inside a garage, walking toward Coy with a cell phone in his hand, the screen lit up and visible. Within seconds, Coy fires his weapons and Hill falls while Coy continues to ask Hill to show his hands.
Coy did not have his body camera turned on when he got out of the vehicle and approached Hill, a clear violation of police policy. After filming, he turned it on, which turned on the 60-second “look back” feature, and recorded the shooting without audio.
While the images match the police accounts of the shooting, it also shows that Hill did not receive medical help for at least 5 minutes after the shooting. The police chief said the Columbus police department is also investigating whether any of the numerous officers at the site followed the protocol.
Hill was taken to hospital when medical help arrived, where he died from his injuries. A preliminary autopsy report released by the Franklin County coroner pointed to the cause of death as a homicide. No medical report has indicated whether the aid immediately following the shooting could have saved Hill’s life.
This news of additional investigations comes after Coy’s termination on the recommendation of the police chief. Coy was fired without a hearing, due to his “use of deadly force, his failure to activate his body’s camera and his failure to assist Hill.”
Coy’s dismissal was described as a “right decision” by Hill Crump’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, who also called for a redefinition of the relationship between police and communities of color. “The unbridled police mentality of shooting first and asking questions later when it comes to a black person is incontrovertible evidence that black lives don’t matter to too many police officers,” Crump said.
“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,” Columbus security director Ned Pettus Jr. said in a communicated last week.
The Ohio Office of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting, which took place a few weeks after the Dec. 4 shooting of 23-year-old Columbus resident Casey Goodson Jr.
The police chief cited the large amount of camera footage and interviews that needed to be examined for the reason in delayed announcements, but said police are working hard.
“As a police chief and as a human being, last week’s events have left me shaken and heartbroken by Andre Hill’s family,” Quinlan said. “You will have the answers you ask for and deserve.”