Our live coverage has ended for the day.
Columbus Police said Wednesday that Nicholas Reardon, the officer who discharged his weapon killing a teenager, was hired in December 2019.
CNN previously reported the department interim chief saying the officer was taken off the street while an investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office takes place.
CNN is attempting to reach the officer.
Calls to the police union for Columbus PD have not been returned.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant a “horrible tragedy” and praised Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther for releasing the video of the incident and being transparent with the public.
The governor said he saw the bodycam video of the incident prior to his afternoon news conference.
“It’s always a judgment….did [police] exercise reasonable force based upon the facts of that particular circumstance,” the governor said. “Let the facts take us wherever the conclusion is.”
“We should have enough compassion to worry about every child who is shot in our cities,” DeWine added. “And we should not accept it,” he said about violence against children.
“The loss of every child who is dying in our cities, who is killed by a knife, or by gun, we should worry about them and we should try to get to the root cause of that,” the governor continued. “Unfortunately, when we hear about a shooting that’s a non-police involved shooting, somehow, for us just doesn’t have the impact.”
Officials in Columbus, Ohio, just wrapped a press conference on the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager Tuesday afternoon.
The city’s mayor and interim police chief weren’t able to provide much additional detail because the investigation is being handled independently by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
If you’re just reading in now, here’s what we learned during today’s press conference:
Columbus Interim Police Chief Michael Woods ended the press conference this afternoon saying the killing of the year old girl was a “tragedy,” regardless of what might have occurred.
Woods then added a personal note, drawing from his own experience as a father.
“I’m a father,” he said. “Her family is grieving. Regardless of the circumstances associated with this, a 16-year-old lost her life yesterday. I sure as hell wish it hadn’t happened.”
Interim Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods said Wednesday officers faced with someone “employing deadly force” can respond with deadly force.
He was asked generally about the policy of police use of tasers versus guns, and he made clear he was not able to comment on this specific incident.
“If there’s not deadly force being perpetrated on someone else at that time, an officer may have the opportunity to have cover, distance and time to use a taser. But if those things are not present, and there’s an active assault going on in which someone could lose their life, the officer can use their firearm to protect that third person,” he said.
The chief had little to share about witness statements and who made the 911 calls as police did not interview the witnesses, adding that while police assisted in separating witnesses at the scene, they did so to allow the Bureau of Criminal Investigation the opportunity to investigate and question them.
SEE IT HERE:
Ned Pettus, Columbus public safety director, called the police shooting death of Ma’Khia Bryant a “horrendous tragedy” and urged the community to not rush to judgement until the report from the independent investigation is released.
“The video shows there is more. It requires us to take pause,” Pettus said during a news conference.
Pettus made a plea to the community to not rush to judgement.
“As Chief Woods has indicated, a fully independent investigation is being conducted by (the Bureau of Criminal Investigation). The results will be public. So, I plead with the community, let us not rush to judgment. As I said last night, fast facts should not come at the cost of complete and accurate facts. The loved ones of Ma’Khia Bryant have my most sincere sympathies. We as a community could wrap them in love and we should allow process to play out,” he said.
WATCH HERE:
Mayor Andrew Ginther said police will soon release more video from the incident Tuesday afternoon that resulted in a Black teen being shot and killed in Columbus by a police officer.
Police will be releasing more body-cam footage from “witness officers here this afternoon,” Ginther said.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is “the first step” in “unraveling” what led to “the tragic death” of a Black teen in the Ohio city yesterday.
Ginther noted that the city has released body-camera footage of the incident, adding that they plan to release additional footage from officer body cameras and police cruisers later today or tomorrow.
Columbus officials played more body camera videos from the officers on scene, as well as 911 calls leading up to the incident that resulted in the police involved shooting death of a teen.
The interim Police Chief Michael Woods said Wednesday officers attempted life saving measures “almost immediately” after shots were fired including an assessment of injuries and CPR by two officers.
The interim chief added that 90 seconds after the shots were fired, medics were alerted to go to the scene, and six minutes after the shots were fired, a medic arrived and performed life-saving measures, including transport to a local area hospital.
Police in Columbus, Ohio, are holding a news conference, where they are showing footage from yesterday’s police shooting.
CNN is reviewing the footage.
What we know so far: A Columbus, Ohio, police officer shot and killed a Black teenager Tuesday afternoon after she attempted to cut two females with a knife, according to officials and body camera footage shown to the media.
A Columbus, Ohio, police officer shot and killed a Black teenager Tuesday afternoon after she attempted to cut two females with a knife, according to officials and body camera footage shown to the media.
The Columbus mayor will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. ET today to give an update on the shooting.
The girl’s mother, Paula Bryant, and the Franklin County Children Services identified her as Ma’Khia Bryant. Although local law enforcement identified her as 15 years old at a Tuesday news conference, the FCCS gave the girl’s age as 16 and said she was a foster child in its care.
“We know based on this footage, the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community,” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said at the news conference. “But a family is grieving tonight and this young 15-year-old girl will never be coming home.”
President Biden has been briefed on the shooting of a 16-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
Ma’Khia Bryant was killed after she attempted to cut two females with a knife, according to officials and body camera footage shown to the media.
That shooting happened about 30 minutes before the verdict was read in the Derek Chauvin trial. Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd sparked a national reckoning on systemic racial inequity in the US.
“Her death came, as you noted, just as America was hopeful of a step forward after the traumatic and exhausting trial of Derek Chauvin, and the verdict that was reached. So our focus is on working to address systemic racism and implicit bias head on, and of course to passing laws and legislation that will put much-needed reforms into place at police departments around the country,” Psaki said.
Earlier in the briefing, Psaki reiterated calls for police reform, pointing to ongoing negotiations in Congress on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
