The family of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant says that she was the one who called 911 after being attacked at the foster home where she lived Tuesday afternoon.
Bryant was brandishing a knife amid a street scuffle when police arrived at around 4:32 p.m. She was never warned or ordered to drop her weapon before being gunned down, a witness said.
“Get down,” someone is heard saying in bodycam footage of the incident before Ma’Khia is shot four times.
“She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street,” Ma’Khia’s aunt said.
The white officer who opened fire at the Black teen waited around half a minute before tending to her but she was declared dead shortly at a hospital.
The police-involved shooting came nearly 25 minutes before the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial. Her death toned down the celebrations following his conviction.
“It’s a tragic day in the city of Columbus,” Mayor Andrew Ginther said. “It’s a horrible, heartbreaking situation. We felt transparency in sharing this footage, as incomplete as it is at this time, (was critical)”.
