COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Mayor Andrew Ginther is calling for the Columbus police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man early Tuesday to be terminated from the force.
Officer Adam Coy was responding to a non-emergency call in the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive on the Northwest Side when police spotted a man in an open garage. He approached them with a phone in one hand and the other hand not visible before Coy shot.
After the shooting, Coy switched on his body camera, which preserved the video from the previous 60 seconds with no audio. The body camera footage then continues with video and sound. Coy is not shown offering immediate medical aid to the victim, 47-year-old Andre’ Hill.
Ginther said Wednesday that his call for termination is for Coy failing to turn on his body camera beforehand and for failing to offer immediate medical aid. Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. said a list of charges will be presented to Coy, and then Pettus will conduct a termination hearing.
“Columbus Division of Police’s core values are integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence,” Ginther said. “From the body-worn camera footage we’ve seen, these values were absent and not on display while Mister Hill lay dying.”
Ginther also said that Hill was a guest at the residence on Oberlin Drive. Police were responding to a call of a man sitting in a car, turning it on and off for an extended period. No weapon was recovered from the scene.
Coy has been relieved of duty, with his badge and gun taken from him.
The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation is the lead agency looking into Hill’s death.
Shannon Hardin, president of the Columbus City Council, said Coy should face criminal charges.
“Officer Adam Coy’s body camera shows the unjustified killing of Andre Hill. I call for the immediate arrest of Adam Coy,” Hardin said in a statement. “Mr. Hill’s family deserves justice.”
It is the second death this month of a Black man by a law enforcement officer, after Casey Goodson Jr. was shot by a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy. That shooting took place in Columbus as the deputy, Jason Meade, was coming off an assignment with the U.S. Marshal’s Service. Ginther said he attended Goodson’s funeral earlier Wednesday.