A teenage woman was fatally shot by the police in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon, officers mentioned, shortly earlier than a jury reached a responsible verdict within the homicide trial of the previous Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in final yr’s killing of George Floyd.
The woman’s loss of life solid a right away pall over public expressions that justice had been served in Mr. Floyd’s case and touched off protests in Ohio’s capital metropolis.
The Columbus Division of Police didn’t instantly present particulars in regards to the capturing, which was confirmed on Twitter by town’s mayor, Andrew Ginther, who mentioned there was police physique digicam footage of the confrontation and urged residents to maintain the peace as protesters descended on the scene.
“This afternoon a younger lady tragically misplaced her life,” Mr. Ginther mentioned. “We have no idea the entire particulars. There may be body-worn digicam footage of the incident. We’re working to evaluation it as quickly as doable.”
The Columbus Dispatch reported that police had been responding to a 911 name about an tried stabbing when the capturing happened round 4:45 p.m. within the southeastern a part of Columbus. The decision within the Chauvin case was introduced about 20 minutes later.
Mr. Ginther mentioned that the Ohio Bureau of Felony Investigation would conduct an impartial inquiry, which he mentioned is normal each time an officer shoots somebody.
“We are going to share info that we will as quickly because it turns into out there,” he mentioned. “I’m asking for residents to stay calm and permit BCI to collect the information.”
A girl interviewed by The Dispatch recognized the sufferer, who was Black, as her 15-year-old niece. The lady, Hazel Bryant, instructed the newspaper that her niece lived in a foster residence and bought into an altercation with another person on the residence.
Ms. Bryant mentioned her niece had a knife, however maintained that the woman had dropped the knife earlier than she was shot a number of occasions by a police officer, the newspaper reported.
The Columbus Division of Police didn’t instantly reply to messages looking for touch upon Tuesday evening. A crowd of protesters gathered exterior town’s police constructing, native information media reported.
{The teenager}’s loss of life rapidly acquired widespread consideration, together with from Ben Crump, the Floyd household’s lawyer, amid a unbroken reckoning over police accountability and systemic racism.
“As we breathed a collective sigh of reduction right now, a neighborhood in Columbus felt the sting of one other police capturing as @ColumbusPolice killed an unarmed 15yo Black woman,” Mr. Crump mentioned. “One other little one misplaced! One other hashtag.”
Jack Begg contributed analysis.