Advocates against police brutality staged a caravan rally after the murder of Andre Hill in Columbus, Ohio. Officer Adam Coy was dismissed from the Columbus Police Department on Monday for his role in the shooting of the 47-year-old man on December 22.
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Advocates against police brutality staged a caravan rally after the murder of Andre Hill in Columbus, Ohio. Officer Adam Coy was dismissed from the Columbus Police Department on Monday for his role in the shooting of the 47-year-old man on December 22.
SOPA Images / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Gett
Columbus, Ohio, Officer Adam Coy, who was killed by a bullet Andre HillBlack man, during a non-emergency call early in the morning last week, was fired Monday.
Police Chief Tom Quinlan, as well as the mayor and other leaders, have demanded that Coy be sacked since the December 22 shooting. After Monday’s disciplinary hearing, Public Safety Director Ned Beatus agreed.
“When I became a captain, I changed our core values to include accountability,” the police chief said in a statement on Monday. NPR member station reported WOSU.
“This is what the accountability looks like. The evidence provided a strong rationale for the termination. Mr. Coy will now have to answer the state investigators on the death of Andre Hill.”
Pettus, the only official with the authority to dismiss police officers, said Coy violated the department’s use of force policy, failed to follow protocol by delaying activation of his body’s camera, and failed to provide assistance to the dying man.
“The actions of Adam Coy are not up to the standards of the Columbus Police Department or the standards that we and the community demand of our officers,” Bettus wrote in a statement. “The shooting of Andre Hill is a tragedy for everyone who loves him, as well as the community and our police department.”
Coy and another officer responded to a call about a suspicious car at about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Upon their arrival, they found Hill sitting in a car inside an open-door garage. Officers approached the 47-year-old with bright flashlights. Hill walked towards the husband, holding a cell phone. After about five seconds, Coy shot Hill.
The accident was only partially captured by the officer’s body camera. The devices within the department are set up to always function and replace unwanted snaps. However, once they switch recording, the camera automatically saves 60 seconds of previous shots minus the accompanying audio. This is why aspects of before Hill’s murder remain a mystery. Officer Coy turned his camera on only after he had actually shot the dying man on the ground.
While the officers waited for medical help to arrive, neither offered Hill any assistance for about five minutes. They did not try to stop the bleeding of the man. Instead, while Hill was lying on the ground, Coy, a 19-year-old veteran white officer, instructed, “Don’t move, dude.”
Hill’s death was announced at Ohio Health Riverside Methodist Hospital.
a Initial report From Coroner’s Franklin County office released Monday, Hale is ruled a homicide. She said the primary cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, with a full report expected within 12 to 14 weeks.
Coy did not attend the disciplinary hearing but members of the fraternity of the police did on his behalf.
FOP officials did not immediately respond to NPR’s questions about Coy’s termination.
Although the officer was fired, it is possible that Coy would join the force. Like WOSU mentioned:
“Even if an officer is dismissed, he can still be reinstated through union arbitration. The Columbus Police Syndicate contract gives officers the right to appeal any disciplinary decision. 2017 investigation By WOSU found that, in the past decade, Columbus Police have fired 14 officers and re-employed three of these officers following FOP pleas. “
Friends and family described him as passionate about the Black Lives Matter movement. The Columbus Dispatch mentioned, “Hill was wearing a BLM shirt early Tuesday morning when Coy and the officer confronted him.”
Coy is still under a criminal investigation into the shooting with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation leading the investigation. Additionally, US Attorney David Devilers said his office will review whether any of the federal civil rights laws have been violated.
The killing of Hill was the second officer involved in the Columbus shootings within three weeks, prompting a new round of protests against local law enforcement and accusations of excessive use of force.
On December 4, Franklin County Deputy Mayor Jason Mead, who was white, was killed Casey Goodson Jr..
In that case, Meade confronted Goodson while searching for a suspect in a case. However, Judson was not the suspect and he was on his way home, to eat lunch for his family. The confrontation quickly escalated and Mead shot Godson.
A preliminary report from the county coroner said the man likely died from multiple wounds to the torso.
