The chief of police in Columbus, Ohio, recommended on Thursday that the officer who shot and killed Andre Hill, a 47 year old black man, earlier this week being fired.
Police chief Thomas Quinlan said in a statement that he filed two departmental charges alleging critical misconduct against Officer Adam Coy in Hill’s death after an accelerated investigation. His recommendation for termination now goes to the city’s public security director; a hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Quinlan expressed sadness that Hill was unable to celebrate Christmas with his family and rejected any criticism that he might be making a rash judgment.
“Like all of you, I witnessed your critical misconduct firsthand through your camera next to your body,” he said. “I saw everything I need to see to come to the conclusion that Officer Coy should be fired immediately.”
The video showed Hill leaving a garage and holding a cell phone in his left hand seconds before he was shot dead by a police officer identified as Coy on Tuesday.
About six seconds passed between the moment when Hill is visible in the video and the moment when the police officer fires his gun. There is no audio because the police did not activate the body camera; an automatic “look back” feature captured the footage without audio.
Coy was notified of the charges against him on Thursday, said Quinlan, who comes in an investigation into his irrational use of lethal force, fails to activate the body’s camera and fails to help Hill after he was shot. E-mails to the police union representing Columbus officials were not returned immediately.
The dismissal recommendation came with increased public pressure in the case.
The eight Democratic state legislators in the area issued a statement calling the killing “horrible,” more for following so closely the death of Casey Goodson Jr., 23, another black man, in the hands of a deputy from Franklin County sheriff in December 4th.
“It is clear that the seeds of mutual distrust between this community and its police force have been planted,” they said. “This distrust does not originate only from the deaths of Casey Goodson and Andre Hill, it only increases with each incidence of violence. There must be transparency and responsibility for the loss of life, as well as a commitment to change ”.
Protesters also gathered in a cold drizzle of Christmas Eve to call for justice for Hill’s death.