COLUMBUS – The fatal shooting of a 16-year-old Columbus girl by a police officer has caused a national spotlight to be trained on the city’s Division of Police just as the dialogue over police reform is renewed from Columbus to Washington.
“It’s a tragedy. There’s just no other way to say it, it’s a 16-year-old girl,” interim police chief Michael Woods said at a news conference Wednesday.
The city released tapes of the 911 call that brought Officer Nicholas Reardon to 3171 Legion Lane on the East Side just before 4:45 p.m. Tuesday and additional video from body cams worn by officers who arrived at the scene as Reardon shot Ma’Kiah Bryant.
Body camera video shows Reardon shooting Ma’Kiah four times as the teen swung at two other people with a knife. A black-handled blade resembling a kitchen knife or steak knife appeared to be lying on the sidewalk next to her immediately after she was shot and fell.
“Did Ma’Kiah Bryant need to die?…How did we get here?” asked Mayor Andrew Ginther.
The shooting of Ma’Kiah Bryant came within minutes of the announcement of the guilty verdicts in the murder and manslaughter trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd last year.
The new momentum has lawmakers in the Statehouse and Congress ready to try again to change the nation’s policing laws.
The revived effort comes at a pivotal moment as many Americans are demanding more action to end police violence. But police leaders and activists alike caution that a single case will not end systemic racism or stamp out excessive force in departments nationwide.
Goiv. Mike DeWine sent a sympathetic message to Ma’Kiah’s family, saying the death of a child is the “worst thing” a parent can endure, but said he urged Ohioans to wait for an investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to uncover the facts. Woods said the findings would be turned over to the Franklin County Prosecutor.
DeWine voiced his support for police reform legislation being drafted by Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton), a former Montgomery County sheriff that would establish a peace officer licensing and oversight board similar to those in medicine, law and other professions; establish use-of-force and disciplinary databases; require the independent investigation of officer-involved critical incidents and set up a permanent funding source for law enforcement training in Ohio.
His current two-year budget proposal includes $10 million in grant money to help local police agencies to buy body cameras and $1 million to support efforts by local agencies to recruit women and minorities.