US: Police shoot, kill a teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio
Police shot and killed a teenage girl on Tuesday afternoon in Columbus just as the verdict was being announced in the trial for the killing of George Floyd. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was at the scene on Tuesday night on the city's southeast side, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Here are more details.
Officers had responded to an attempted stabbing call
Officers had responded to an attempted stabbing call when police shot the girl at about 4:45 p.m., the newspaper reported. The 911 caller reported a female was trying to stab them before hanging up, according to the Dispatch. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Nobody else was injured, the newspaper reported.
Victim was identified as 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant
The police did not reveal any information about the victim, initially, but Franklin County Children's Services said that the girl who was shot was 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant and that she was in foster care, under the custody of Children's Services. Later a woman Hazel Bryant, said that the victim was her 16-year-old niece, and was living under foster care.
The officer apparently fired his weapon four times
A body camera footage that was reviewed later showed an officer approaching a driveway with a group of young persons, including Bryant. Bryant was pushing or swinging a person who fell to the ground. Bryant then appeared to swing the knife at a girl, and the officer fired his weapon what sounds like four times, striking the girl, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
A crowd gathered at the scene on Legion Lane
Shortly after the shooting, a crowd gathered at the scene on Legion Lane, which police had partially blocked off to traffic, holding signs of "Black Lives Matter," a megaphone, and a loudspeaker. Others gathered at the city's police headquarters to protest about the shooting.
Worst thing that has ever happened here: Bryant's neighbor
Kimberly Shepherd, 50, who has lived in the neighborhood for 17 years, said she knew the victim. "The neighborhood has definitely gone through its changes, but nothing like this," Shepherd said of the shooting. "But this is the worst thing that has ever happened out here and unfortunately, it is at the hands of the police," she said.
Shooting happened about 25 minutes before the Floyd verdict
The shooting happened about 25 minutes before a judge read the verdict convicting former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter in the killing of Floyd. Floyd was killed in a brutal abuse of the police force on May 25 last year. Shepherd and her neighbor Jayme Jones, 51, had celebrated the guilty verdict of Chauvin. But things changed quickly, she said.
Couldn't even enjoy the Chauvin verdict: Shepherd
"We were happy about the verdict. But you couldn't even enjoy that. Because as you're getting one phone call that he was guilty, I'm getting the next phone call that this is happening in my neighborhood," Shepherd said.
