A police veteran shot during the raid on a Columbus apartment: he would have traded his electronic cigarette for a gun. The victim was in his twenties
The American police are back in the storm for the brutal methods used against African Americans. To rekindle the controversy, a video showing an agent instantly killing an unarmed young black man in his bed, during a raid on an apartment in the city of Columbus, Ohio, in which it was only supposed to notify an arrest warrant.
In the body-cam footage, made public by the police departmentat least three officers are seen raiding an apartment at around 2:30 am on Tuesday, supported by an anti-drug dog.
The victim, Donovan Lewis, was 20 years old: law enforcement had to serve him with an arrest warrant for domestic violence, assault and misuse of firearms.
To open fire was Ricky Anderson, a police veteran with thirty years of experience, assigned to the canine unit: the agent fired only one shot.
A few moments earlier the policemen had stopped and taken away two men who were inside the apartment. Police said Lewis appeared to have an object in his hand when the agent fired: the policeman would have mistaken the electronic cigarette for a gun.
The reconstruction
Officers knocked on the door for several minutes … qualifying as Columbus cops, department head Elaine Bryant said at a news conference. The body camera video shows them knocking and repeatedly calling tenants for eight to ten minutes, even shouting the name Donovan multiple times. At that point a man opened the door and the agents stopped him along with another person. Then they released the police dog who led them to a bedroom door, Anderson opened it and immediately fired a single shot with his gun while Lewis sat on the bed. The agent – explained Bryant – opened fire when it seemed that the 20-year-old raised his arm with something in his hand. On the bed, only one electronic cigarette was found.
Investigations
We are committed to full transparency and we are committed to holding officers accountable in case of offenses – said the police chief – my job is to make the officers answer for their actions, but also my job to offer them support throughout the process .
Officer Anderson was put on paid leave pending the results of the investigation and the upcoming trial.
September 1, 2022 (change September 1, 2022 | 17:47)
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