Police in Columbus shot and killed a Black teenage girl Tuesday, just as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a white man, was about to receive a guilty verdict for murdering George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020.
Family members identified the girl as 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, who died last night after being taken to a hospital in critical condition.
During a press conference Tuesday night, Columbus police said that 911 received a call about a girl trying to stab two people. Police arrived to find Bryant holding a knife while arguing with two girls or women, they said.
Partial body camera footage released by the Columbus police appears to show Bryant pushing one female down and then pushing another against a car. An officer, who has not been identified, shouts “Get down” several times and appears to fire his gun at least four times at Bryant. A knife can be seen nearby. A man nearby shouts, “She’s just a kid.”
Bryant’s family members told The Daily Beast that she was the one who had made the 911 call, claiming that people were fighting outside. Police did not identify the 911 caller.
The 911 call occurred in Columbus around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 30 minutes before a jury in Minneapolis found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the Bryant case, Columbus police said. The officer in question has been pulled from active patrol, NPR reported.
This story continues to develop.
