A Columbus police officer has been shot the fatal shooting of a black man in a case that has sparked national outrage, the city’s director of public security announced Monday. The decision to fire Adam Coy, who was identified by authorities as the officer who shot and killed 47-year-old Andre Hill last week, comes after the city police chief called the shooting “horrific” and recommended Coy’s termination.
“Monday morning, I held a disciplinary hearing for Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy. I support Chief Quinlan’s recommendation to fire Mr. Coy,” Ned Pettus Jr., Columbus’s director of public safety said in a statement, adding, “The Adam Coy’s actions do not meet the oath of a Columbus police officer, or the standards that we, and the community, demand of our officers. ”
Authorities said the shooting took place after a neighbor reported that a person turned the engine of an SUV on and off at approximately 1:30 am. Body camera footage from the scene showed Coy exiting his vehicle and approaching Hill, who was in a garage. As Hill walked over to the officer holding his cellphone, Coy fired his weapon. Hill immediately fell to the floor as Coy shouted orders to show his hands.
The video did not show Coy providing CPR or other medical care. Hill later died of his injuries. A preliminary autopsy report released Monday ruled Hill’s death was a murder, saying he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Benjamin Crump
The city’s mayor said the day after the shooting that Hill was an expected guest at the residence and not an intruder. The mayor also said that Coy only turned on his body camera after the shooting – but he said an automatic 60-second “flashback” captured the incident without sound.
Two days after the shooting, Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan announced that he was taking action to fire Coy by recommending Pettus to resign. Quinlan said that after investigating Coy’s use of lethal force, his failure to activate his body camera, and his failure to provide Hill assistance, he chose to bypass the typical step of allowing a hearing.
“I’ve seen everything I need to come to the conclusion that Agent Coy should be fired immediately,” he wrote in a public statement announcing his recommendation.
In his letter to Pettus, Quinlan said that Coy “had no direct reason to believe that criminal activity was in progress and certainly had no predisposition to believe that Mr. Hill posed a threat to officers,” adding that Coy’s right to maintain his position. a police officer.”
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents Hill’s family, has called for Coy’s arrest. He called the firing the “ right decision ” in a statement Monday, stressing the need “ to redefine a relationship between police and colored communities where it does not become lethal for a black person with a cell phone to oppose a law enforcement agency. to come. officer.”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting. Quinlan also noted that additional agents involved in the incident would be investigated as they may not have been able to activate their body cameras or assist Hill.
Quinlan announced the firing, writing in a statement, “This is what accountability looks like.” He added that Coy “must now answer to state investigators for Andre Hill’s death.”
The shooting comes as the city is reeling from another fatal shooting of a black man by police just weeks earlier. On December 4, a sheriff’s deputy was murdered 23-year-old Casey Goodson on his grandmother’s doorstep. The shooting, which has not been captured on CCTV footage of the body, is being investigated by Columbus Police, the Department of Justice and the FBI.