Body camera video shows Columbus police officer fatally shooting Black man
COLUMBUS, Ohio (NewsNation Now) — Video released by the Columbus Department of Public Safety Wednesday shows the shooting of a Black man by a police officer, but it paints less than a whole picture with missing audio.
Police said Officer Adam Coy shot and killed 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill while responding to a neighbor’s nonemergency call after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday about a man sitting in a vehicle for a long time, repeatedly turning the vehicle on and off, NewsNation affiliate WCMH reported.
Body camera video shows officers approach an open garage with flashlights. Hill was in the open garage and approached officers with a phone held up in one hand, and his other arm at his side. Coy’s gun was drawn, and then Hill was on the ground. You can view the entire body camera footage in the player at the bottom of the article.
According to the video, from the time Hill was illuminated by a flashlight in the garage until he was shot was less than 9 seconds. Since there was no audio during the first 60 seconds of the video, there is no way to know what was said during that time.
The audio picks up about 10 seconds after the shooting. Coy yells at Hill to put his hands off to his side. He repeatedly demands that Hill roll over. Coy warns another officer not to get close because he can’t see Hill’s hands.
“Don’t move, dude,” Coy yells as he approaches Hill. Coy yelled an expletive as he rolled Hill over. He shined a flashlight in the area of Hill’s body. No weapon was found.
After about two minutes of standing near the body, Coy walks down the driveway, and audio indicates that Coy began either vomiting or dry-heaving.
Seven minutes and 30 seconds into the video, another officer approaches Coy, identifying himself as officer support. He accompanies Coy to his cruiser as Coy gets a drink of water. The other officer then tried to get Coy to come down the street with him.
In the video, Coy is heard to say “Trying to figure out what I missed.”
“We’ll take care of that, I promise you,” said the other officer. “We don’t gotta say anything about this right this second.
The other officer then led Coy away from the shooting scene. Coy asked a sergeant for permission to turn off his body camera before being taken to a substation.
The shooting remains under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The city is planning an afternoon news conference.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbus has agreed to review the case for possible federal civil rights violations once the state completes its investigation.
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WCMH contributed to this report.
The full, unredacted video is posted below. It contains graphic violence and harsh language.