An officer who witnessed Andre Hill’s fatal shooting in Ohio told investigators she did not see Hill pose a threat before he was killed, according to documents obtained by CBS News. The officer who shot Hill, who was identified as Adam Coy, was fired Monday by the city’s director of public safety after Columbus police chief called the shooting “horrific” and recommended its termination.
Previously released footage of the body showed Coy Hill, a 47-year-old black man, approaching while standing in a garage on Dec. 22. Hill walks in the direction of Coy with his cell phone and Coy starts firing within seconds. Hill then fell to the ground when Coy yelled at him to show his hands. The video did not show that Coy provided medical assistance to Hill, who was treated by medics a few minutes later. Hill was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Coy did not turn on his body camera before approaching Hill, but a 60-second automatic ‘look back’ feature, which was activated when Coy turned on the camera after the shooting, captured the incident without sound.
The December 23 interview of police investigators with Officer Amy Detweiler, obtained in a summary by CBS News on Tuesday, contains more details about the events that led to the fatal shooting. Detweiler told investigators she responded to the scene after receiving reports around 1:30 a.m. of a person turning on and off an SUV’s engine. She said Coy, who was already at the scene, told her Hill parked the SUV and got in there. a garage. She said she saw no conversation between Coy and Hill.
Detweiler said as she and Coy approached the garage, Hill stepped inside without entering the home. When Coy asked Hill to leave a ‘normal tone of voice’ out of the garage, Hill did not answer verbally, but she started walking out, she said.
According to the summary of the interview, Detweiler then told investigators that Hill walked up to her with a cell phone in his hand. “She has no threats from Mr. Hill not observed, ‘reads the summary. Detweiler said Hill turned to Coy and dropped his left hand. Detweiler told investigators she could not see his right side, but said she did not see any weapon.
Shortly afterwards, Detweiler said, she heard Coy shout, “There’s a gun in his other hand, there’s a gun in his other hand!” followed by gunshots. Detweiler did not provide any information on what happened after the shooting.
Benjamin Crump
CBS News also obtained Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan’s administrative investigation into Coy, which was sent to the city’s director of public safety as part of a recommendation that Coy be fired. In the report, Quinlan noted that Coy ‘responded with deep distress by using wickedness, as he realized that Mr. Hill was unarmed ‘, and said Coy could be heard on his body camera in the aftermath of the shooting and’ become physically ill ‘.
Nevertheless, Quinlan wrote that “the use of Officer Coy was not objectively reasonable, he did not use trained techniques, did not use his BWC properly and did not provide medical assistance.”
“Officer Coy’s handling of this run is not a ‘newcomer’ error due to negligence or carelessness, but the decisions taken (sic) and the actions taken were reckless and deliberate,” Quinlan added.
Quinlan also said, without elaborating, that ‘I have responded to many officers involved in the shooting of scenes and have spoken to many officers following these critical incidents. There was something very clear about the involvement of the officer following this critical incident that is difficult to describe for this letter. . ”
Quinlan also includes an excerpt from a letter he wrote in 2008 while serving as Coy’s patrol lieutenant, in which he wrote: ‘If continuous improvement is not fully realized, a decision must follow or officer Coy is redeemable. Should not the interventions described above yield? the desired results would justify a move to termination, as Officer Coy’s service to the Police Division has lost all future value. ‘Quinlan did not elaborate on what the 2008 letter resulted in.
Quinlan publicly announced on December 24 his recommendation that Coy be fired. The director of public safety, Ned Pettus Jr., fired Coy after a hearing Monday.
“The actions of Adam Coy do not meet the oath of a Columbus police officer, or the standards we and the community demand of our officers,” Pettus said. According to a representative of his police union, Coy did not attend the trial.
Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who represents Hill’s family, praised the shooting Monday as the “right decision.” He also issued a statement on Tuesday in response to Detweiler’s allegation that Coy said Hill had a gun before he shot, writing: ‘The unbridled police mentality of shooting first and later asking questions as when it comes to a black person, there is irrefutable evidence that Blacks live does not matter to too many law enforcement officers. ‘
“Although Officer Coy was sworn in to protect and defend, he failed to take another innocent black life. Forget about the Second Amendment, black people do not even have the right to carry a cell phone without ‘ to have a lethal risk, “Crump added. .
Although the administrative investigation into Coy has been resolved, several other investigations are ongoing. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the death of Hill, who was sentenced to murder by a preliminary autopsy report, and Quinlan is still investigating other officers who were at the scene because they did not turn on their body cameras or provide assistance to Hill.
The city’s assistant director of public safety said Detweiler had been assigned administrative duties while the investigation continued.
Coy’s lawyer told CBS News his team is hopeful that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Attorney General’s Office will complete a fair and thorough investigation that will be transparent and guided by the judiciary and principals (sic) such as set out in the Supreme Court cases leading the practice. of force actions. ‘Coy did not release a public statement about the shooting.
Nathalie Nieves and Erica Scott reported.