Another officer who responded with Coy said she couldn’t see Hill’s right side and couldn’t see a weapon. According to the report, she heard Coy say he saw a gun and he yelled, “There’s a gun in his other hand, there’s a gun in his other!”
Notes of the interview with that other officer were made public by police on Tuesday after CNN asked for the documents.
Hill was unarmed and Coy’s body camera was not recording audio as he did not activate it until after recording. But a look back feature captured 60 seconds of video without audio before Coy turned on his camera. The video, which was released by police, shows Coy approaching Hill and the meeting prior to the shooting.
Brian Steel, vice president of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge, said Coy has 10 days from the date he was fired to ask the organization to bring his case to arbitration, and he has not yet done so. Nor is it automatic that the lodge would advocate Coy’s case. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, Steel said.
Coy could also ask a court or the civil service committee to intervene, Steel said. CNN was unable to reach Coy for comment on Tuesday. The other officer also interviewed investigating officers at the state’s criminal investigation agency on the scene, according to a report on the shooting prepared by Police Chief Thomas Quinlan with the help of internal affairs investigators.
The report noted that the agents involved behaved differently than agents in other shootings to which he responded.
“I have responded to many shooting scenes involving involved officers and spoke to many officers following these critical incidents,” the report said. “There was something very clear about the officers’ involvement after this critical incident that is difficult for this letter to describe.”
The report, signed by Quinlan, noted concerns raised by others after watching the video and observing the agents on the scene.
“Based on my direct observations of this meeting, I informed the principal’s office and the mayor’s office of what I saw. I explained that I was observing events with my own eyes and ears that, in my experience, are very raised the alarm about the officer’s actions with deadly force, ‘it says.
There is an internal investigation into other agents on the ground and it is not clear whether others will face discipline. A separate investigation by the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation is underway to see if criminal charges are appropriate.
Coy and the other officer had been sent on a trouble call for someone who was “constantly restarting a gray SUV” and ran into Hill in a garage. According to her interview, they had both drawn their guns and approached from opposite sides.
Coy asked Hill to leave the garage and Hill did not respond verbally but started walking out of the garage.
Hill’s left hand was holding a cellphone, but his right hand was “hidden behind his leg”. According to declassified records, Hill allegedly dropped his left hand before Coy shot him, but it’s not clear from Coy’s video what happened – and Columbus police have not released another video.
“(The other officer) stated that she saw no weapon. (She) stated that Officer Coy was observing a firearm and shouted, ‘There’s a gun in his other hand, there’s a gun in his other!’ (She) heard gunfire at this point, “notes from the interview with the other officer.” (She) had nothing more to add and the interview was closed. “
The memo noted that there was no audio evidence of the meeting because Coy did not activate his camera. But once Coy’s camera was on and he had audio, the report said Coy was “verbally excited and issuing orders” while “Hill was lying on the floor with his back to officers and clearly in a medical need.”
“Agent Coy rolled over Mr. Hill and immediately responded with great grief and swearing when he realized Mr. Hill was unarmed,” the report said.
The agents on the ground did not provide first aid, but asked for paramedics “immediately”. Coy asked the other officer for a support officer, who, according to the documents, would normally assist an officer “during a critical event.”
Officer Coy was heard on his (body-worn camera) while becoming physically ill, the report said. Officers began securing the crime scene with crime scene tape and eventually handcuffed Mr. Hill. Medical assistance was not provided until a few minutes later. ‘
The report notes that there was a “ long delay ” for paramedics to arrive and that “ no on-site officers provided first aid or reassured Mr. Hill until a few minutes later. ”
Coy arrived at the scene around 1:42 am and Hill was shot minutes later, according to the timeline of events in Quinlan’s report, and Hill was pronounced dead at Riverside Hospital at 2:25 am.