Authorities in Columbus, Ohio have released body camera footage of a police-implicated shooting in which a teenage girl died minutes before the verdict was announced in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Video of the incident shows an officer approaching a driveway where a group of young people are standing. Among them was Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, who apparently pushes or waves against a person and falls to the ground, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Bryant then appears to be swinging a knife at another girl who, according to the newspaper, is sitting on the hood of a car, and an officer fires their weapon four times and hits Bryant, who later died of her injuries.
Mayor Andrew Ginther (D) said Tuesday night that the camera footage of the body was being reviewed and that Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation officials were on the scene.
“This afternoon a young woman tragically lost her life. We don’t know all the details. There are camera images of the incident worn on the body. We are working to review it as soon as possible. BCI is on site conducting an independent investigation … as they do with everyone else [Columbus Police Department]-related shootings, ”Ginther said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Franklin County Children’s Services confirmed Bryant’s identity and said she was in foster care.
Police said they responded to a report of an attempted stabbing at the scene on Tuesday afternoon.
Videos and photos taken near the site of the shooting show where protesters gather on Tuesday evening.
“We should not celebrate,” said protester KC Taynor in reference to Chauvin’s statement. “You know what, you can’t be black in the end.”
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd last summer. The case widely seen as a referendum on police brutality and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.