Columbus police releases bodycam that shows teen attempting to stab two women

Columbus police have released bodycam footage showing the officer shooting of 15-year-old Makhia Bryant, who was fatally gunned down just moments before Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. 

In an attempt to show more transparency and ease tensions as Black Lives Matter protesters descended on the scene, the police department released footage that appears to show the teen run out of her home with a knife. 

Bryant can be seen with a knife as she storms out of the home and towards another woman, with the woman falling backwards. 

The teen turns her attention towards another woman at the scene and runs towards her as the officer opens fire, sending her to the ground. 

People can immediately be heard screaming in shock and horror as the scene unfolds.   

Officers could be seen looking over Bryant’s body in the footage. 

Columbus Police said earlier on Tuesday that one person was killed in the officer-involved shooting that took place on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, in the afternoon. 

The officer who opened fire was not identified. Police Chief Michael Woods said he ‘would be taken off the street’ pending an investigation.

Bryant can be seen with a knife as she storms out of the home and towards another woman, with the woman falling backwards. She storms off to another woman as the first woman is kicked in the head by a man

The teen turns her attention towards another woman at the scene and runs towards her as the officer opens fire

As Bryant falls to the ground, the person she was after runs from the gunfire

Makhia Bryant – identified by her mother on social media – was taken to Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition but was pronounced dead at 5.21pm, WCMH reports. 

‘She was a good kid. She was loving,’ Hazel Bryant, the girl’s aunt, told reporters on the street. ‘She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street.’ 

Police had been responding to a report of a stabbing before the fatal shooting. A witness said Makhia, who Hazel Bryant said lived in a foster home, got into an altercation with another resident of the home and was armed with the knife to defend herself when police arrived. 

Columbus Police said that one person was killed in the officer-involved shooting that took place on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon. A woman at the scene – identified on Facebook as Shonnell Kelley – shared a series of videos from the shooting, including one of the officer who allegedly shot the teen

Makhia Bryant – identified by her mother on social media – was taken to Mount Carmel East hospital in critical condition but was pronounced dead at 5.21pm

Authorities said they had been responding to an initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm. The shots fire call was made just 15 minutes later

Authorities said they responded to the initial stabbing call at around 4.30pm. The shots fired call was made just 15 minutes later. 

Columbus Police have requested Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to respond to the scene and investigate the shooting. 

Woods said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) had opened an inquiry into the case. He and the city’s public safety director, Ned Pettus, Jr., appealed for calm while the investigation proceeds and facts are uncovered in what he called ‘a devastating’ loss of life.

‘Fast, quick answers cannot come at the cost of accurate answers,’ Pettus told a late news conference with the police chief and mayor. 

‘BCI will conduct a fully independent investigation, which will be made public. If an officer has violated policy or the law, if they have, they will be held accountable.’

Protesters soon convened at the crime scene and called for action after witnesses described what led to the shooting. Several could be seen praying over the scene while others screamed at the police for the shooting taking place just moments after the verdict for former Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin was read. 

A crowd gathers to protest in the neighborhood where a Columbus police officer fatally shot Bryant on Tuesday

A crowd gathers to protest in the neighborhood where a Columbus police officer fatally shot Bryant on Tuesday

‘She was a good kid. She was loving,’ Hazel Bryant, the girl’s aunt (left), told reporters on the street. ‘She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street’

A man can be seen holding a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign at the scene where Makhia was fatally gunned down

A woman at the scene – identified on Facebook as Shonnell Kelley – shared a series of videos from the shooting, including one of the officer who allegedly shot the teen.

‘This is the racist a*s b***h, that shot this poor f*****g girl,’ she said in one clip, showing the officer and just part of the girl’s body. ‘I’m not going to put this sh*t on camera but he shot this f*****g girl, talking about she is trying to stab him. Da f**k, this is somebody’s f****g daughter. B***h!’

Kelley shared in the post that the teen had the knife because ‘somebody tried to jump her’ and added that she was the one who called for help. 

According to Kelley, the cop ‘didn’t tell her to put it down didn’t ask questions or nothing.’ 

Hazel Bryant said Makhia dropped the knife before she was shot dead.

10TV reports that Makhia called police because the girls were fighting in front of her house. 

More footage from the scene shows paramedics coming to retrieve the teen and take her to a local hospital, where she died

Protesters soon convened at the crime scene and called for action after witnesses described what led to the shooting

Hazel Bryant talks to the media after her niece, 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant, was fatally shot by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio

A woman reacts to the shooting in Columbus

Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther said authorities would be reviewing the bodycam footage. 

‘This afternoon a young woman tragically lost her life. We do not know all of the details,’ he said on Twitter. ‘There is body-worn camera footage of the incident. We are working to review it as soon as possible,’ he said in a statement released on Twitter.

 Ginther said it appeared from an initial review of the footage that the officer who opened fire ‘took action to protect another young girl in our community.’

‘But another young girl will still not be coming home tonight, he said, adding, ‘I ask everyone to pray for peace. Tonight we pray for this family, we pray for this city, and we pray for our neighbors,’ Ginther said.

Authorities have not provided any additional information but Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther added that there is ‘body-worn camera footage of the incident’

The mayor asked for residents to ‘remain calm’ and allow the state’s  Bureau of Criminal Investigation to look into the case