Columbus police released body camera video that shows an officer fatally shooting 18-year-old Ta'Shawn Davis on Sunday morning in the University District.
Davis died from gunshot wounds after he was shot by an officer just after 3:30 a.m. in the University District. Davis was a suspect in a nearby robbery and allegedly pointed a gun at two people in the area after fleeing the scene.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant spoke to the media on Thursday after showing reporters a redacted version of the video. Police later released the full video with footage from multiple officers' body cameras to the media.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The below body-worn camera video from Columbus police contains footage that some people may find disturbing.
An officer arrived on scene after being stopped by two bystanders in the area of Indianola and 9th avenues who said two young men, one of whom was wearing a gray hoodie, pointed a gun at them. One of the bystanders pointed the officer in the direction of North High Street.
Video shows the officer exiting his car and pointing his gun sideways at Davis as he fled.
Bryant did not say whether this was proper protocol or training for how police officers are supposed to hold their weapons.
The officer pursued Davis and spoke into his radio to inform a police dispatcher about the situation, while covering the body camera on his chest. He said the suspect had a "33," which is police code for a gun.
Davis ran into the courtyard of an apartment building when the unidentified officer told Davis to stop or he'd shoot. Officials say the officer shot Davis about a dozen times.
Security camera footage at the apartment provided by Columbus police shows that as Davis was shot, he hit a metal pole and fell to the ground.
Davis dropped a handgun after he was shot. Davis did not appear to point his weapon at the officer during the video.
Bryant wouldn't say where Davis was shot, how many times he was shot or answer questions about the weapon Davis had and whether it was a real gun.
Davis was given first aid by police and emergency responders, but later died at Grant Hospital in downtown Columbus.
Bryant didn't say whether she was satisfied with the officer's conduct or had any concern. She cautions people not to draw conclusions yet.
"I would say to the public, let's wait. Let the investigation take place. Let's see what (the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation) investigates and what they come up with. And then we can be transparent and have a conversation and talk about it," Bryant said.
Bryant didn't say whether the officer followed protocol with how he held his firearm.
"I can't answer or tell you what may have been occurring (or) what could have occurred" Bryant said.
"Once the investigation is complete, there will be an administration part to that investigation where we will have the ability to look at policies, procedures and be able to determine what, if anything, that needs to be addressed, corrected, changed or anything that we can do to update our policies," Bryant said.
Bryant said police policy allows officers to use deadly force on a fleeing suspect if officers believe the person is a threat to others.
Bryant said police are not naming the officer because of Marsy's Law, which gives crime victims and their families certain protections. The use of the law in cases like this one is currently being litigated before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Bryant said she didn't know yet whether a crime was committed against the officer. Davis did not appear to point the gun at the officer in the video.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling this case, which is standard procedure whenever an officer's weapon is fired. The agency usually takes months before concluding its investigations involving police shootings.
Columbus police said other people who were involved in the earlier robbery were detained. Bryant declined to provide additional details, but asked for the community's help in solving the crimes that occurred in the area that night.
"Typically very safe areas, it's one of the safest areas in our in our community. There's you know, when you look at our statistics, it's not an area that is typically plagued with a lot of violence or a lot of thefts," Bryant said. "But in this particular instance, this particular night, there were multiple incidents happening within that hour."
Bryant said Columbus police try to focus on preventing youth crime and want to do things to make sure that the city is putting young people in the best situation to be able to be successful.
"Unfortunately, it is 3:30 a.m. You know you have young people out there with weapons, assaulting people, robbing people. This is unfortunately not the outcome we want. We never, never want to take a life," Bryant said.
Bryant said no officer wants to wake up and shoot someone.
"They're here to save lives, they are here to protect their communities, to make them safe," Bryant said.
Bryant urged parents to know where their children are and get guns out of their hands.
