COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – In the minutes that passed after a police officer shot Andre Hill in his friend’s garage, officers scoured the driveway for grenades, strapped tape around the house, and blocked the street.
At one point two Columbus officers rolled over Hill and put handcuffs on him before leaving him alone again. None of them provided first aid, according to body cameras released Thursday, although Hill, a 47-year-old black man, barely moved, groaned and bled while lying on the garage floor.
About 10 minutes passed before a police officer appeared and asked, “Did someone do something for him?” Only then did an officer start pumping Hill’s chest, who was later pronounced dead in a hospital on December 22.
While officer Adam Coy, who is white, was fired this week on charges of incompetence and gross dereliction of duty in the fatal shooting, an investigation is also underway into the officers who failed to treat Hill for failing to follow department policy.
Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said he was shocked by the lack of compassion seen in the bodycam videos.
“As a police chief, and just like a human being, the events of the past week have left me shocked and heartbroken for Andre Hill’s family,” Quinlan said in a statement. “Every man and woman wearing this badge should feel the same.”
Family members discussed the treatment of Hill by agents during an emotional press conference on Thursday.
“The way my brother was treated is like an animal to me,” said his sister, Michelle Hairston. ‘He had fallen prey. He didn’t get a chance. “
“Where is humanity?” said Benjamin Crump, a civil rights and trial attorney who represents the family who, along with family members, called on Coy to be arrested and charged. “This is a few days before Christmas. Why is no one like Christ? “
Coy, a 17-year-old member of the force, shot Hill as he emerged from the garage with a cellphone in his left hand and his right hand invisible. Another officer on the scene said she did not see any threat and did not see a gun, contrary to Coy’s false claim.
According to the bodycam video released Thursday, Coy said to another officer who led him away from the house, “I need to find out what I’ve been missing.”
“We’ll take care of that, I promise,” Agent Jared Barsotti replied.
Coy and Officer Amy Detweiler responded to a neighbor’s non-emergency call when they ran into Hill.
A woman in a house where Hill was shot told agents shortly after the shooting that he was bringing her money, according to the bodycam footage.
‘He brought me Christmas money. He hasn’t done anything, ”she shouted.
About five minutes after Hill was shot, an officer shouted, “Let’s handcuff him. He’s still moving. “
Shawna Barnett, another of Hill’s sister, directly called out the agents for their lack of action.
“How can you sleep at night knowing you did this and left him there, and had the guts to turn him around and put him in handcuffs, but not give him any kind of help?” she said Thursday.
Hill was shot two weeks after a white Franklin County deputy sheriff shot 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., who was black, outside Goodson’s home on the north side of Columbus.
Twenty faith leaders, including the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, called for changes in the police force in central Ohio on Thursday. The problem goes deeper than a “few bad apples” in wards, leaders said in a letter to the city of Columbus and police officials.
“The deeper problem is the existence of a systemic culture within many police departments, as shown here in Columbus, where black men are seen as threats by the police,” the letter said. “As a result, black communities always feel harassed and threatened.”
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Seewer reported from Toledo. Kantele Franko in Columbus and Mark Gillispie from Cleveland contributed.