A Columbus police officer was shot the fatal shot of a black man in a case that generated national outrage, the city’s public security director announced on Monday. The decision to fire Adam Coy, who was identified by the authorities as the police officer who shot and killed Andre Hill, 47, last week, came after the city police chief called the shooting “horrible” and recommended the dismissal. of Coy.
“On Monday morning, I held a disciplinary hearing for Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy. I am defending Chief Quinlan’s recommendation to fire Mr. Coy,” said Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. in a statement, adding: “Adam Coy’s actions do not comply with the oath of a Columbus Police officer, or the standards that we and the community demand of our officers.”
Authorities said the shooting occurred after a neighbor reported that a person was starting and stopping the engine of an SUV at around 1:30 am. Images from the body’s camera showed Coy getting out of his vehicle and approaching Hill, who was inside a garage. As Hill walked towards the policeman holding his cell phone, Coy fired his gun. Hill immediately fell to the floor, while Coy shouted orders for him to show his hands.
The video did not show Coy doing CPR or other medical care. Hill died after his injuries. A preliminary autopsy report released on Monday called Hill’s death a homicide and said he died of several gunshot wounds.
Benjamin Crump
The mayor of the city said the day after the shooting that Hill was an expected guest at the residence and not an intruder. The mayor also said that Coy did not turn on the body camera until after the shooting – but he said that a 60-second automatic “look back” feature captured the incident without sound.
Two days after the shooting, Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan announced that he was taking steps to fire Coy, recommending his dismissal to Pettus. Quinlan said that after investigating Coy’s use of lethal force, his failure to activate the body’s camera and assist Hill, he chose to ignore the typical step of granting Coy an audience.
“I saw everything I need to see to conclude that Officer Coy should be fired immediately,” he wrote in a public statement announcing his recommendation.
In his letter to Pettus, Quinlan said that Coy “had no immediate reason to believe that criminal activity was underway and certainly was not predisposed to believe that Hill presented any threat to officers,” adding that Coy “violated his right to hold office. like a policeman. ”
Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who is representing Hill’s family, asked for Coy’s arrest. He called the resignation “the right decision” in a statement on Monday and emphasized the need to “redefine a relationship between the police and communities of color in which it is not deadly for a black man with a cell phone to meet a police officer. “
The Ohio Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the shooting. Quinlan also noted that additional officers involved in the incident would be investigated for failing to activate their body cameras or assist Hill.
Quinlan announced his resignation, writing in a statement that “This is what responsibility looks like.” He added that Coy “will now have to answer state investigators for the death of Andre Hill”.
The shooting comes just as the city is recovering from another fatal shooting by a police man a few weeks earlier. On December 4, a sheriff’s deputy killed 23-year-old Casey Goodson at your grandmother’s door. The shooting, which was not captured by body cameras, is being investigated by the Columbus police, the Department of Justice and the FBI.