Ohio police officer fired for fatal shooting of black man

A white Ohio police officer was fired Monday after body camera footage showed him fatally shooting Andre Hill, 47, a black man holding a cell phone, and not administering first aid for several minutes.

Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was fired hours after a hearing was held to determine his employment, Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr said in a statement.

“Adam Coy’s actions fall short of the oath of a Columbus police officer, nor of the standards that we and the community demand of our officers,” the statement read. “The Andre Hill shooting is a tragedy for everyone who loved him, plus the community and our Police Division.”

Coy remains under criminal investigation for the shooting last week.

The decision was made after Pettus concluded a hearing to determine whether Coy’s actions in the moments before and after Hill’s fatal shooting Tuesday were justified. The director of public safety upheld the recommendation of Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, who made a video statement on Christmas Eve, saying he had seen enough to recommend that Coy be fired.

Quinlan expedited the investigation and bypassed proceedings to file two departmental charges alleging critical misconduct against Coy in Hill’s death.

“This is what liability looks like. The evidence provided a solid foundation for the firing,” Quinlan said after Coy’s firing on Monday afternoon. “Mr. Coy will now have to answer to state investigators for Andre Hill’s death.”

Members of the local Fraternal Order of Police attended the hearing on behalf of Coy, who did not attend, according to a statement from Pettus’ office.

“Officer Coy had the opportunity today to come and participate,” Brian Steel, vice president of the police union, told reporters Monday. “He chose not to participate. I don’t know why … I would have liked to have him here, but it’s his decision.”

Coy and another officer responded to a neighbor’s non-emergency call after 1 a.m. Tuesday about a car in front of his home on the northwest side of the city that had been running, then turned off, then back on , according to a copy of the call posted Wednesday.

Mayor Andrew Ginther said it’s unclear if that car had anything to do with Hill.

Police body camera footage showed Hill exiting a garage and holding a cell phone in his left hand seconds before Coy fatally shot him. There is no audio because the officer had not activated the body camera; an automatic “look back” feature captured the shot without audio.

Hill lay on the garage floor for several minutes without an officer on the scene coming to his aid.

An investigation is also underway into the other officers who responded to the call that ended with Hill’s shooting, who, according to Quinlan, also appear not to have activated the body cameras or to have not assisted Hill. He said that everyone else who violated the department’s protocols will be held accountable.

Officers are required to activate their body cameras as soon as they are dispatched to a major incident, such as a shooting, robbery or robbery, per department policy. Although Coy was sent on a non-emergency call, the call turned into a compliance action when the officer interacted with Hill because it was different from the original call, police department spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said.

In addition to an internal police investigation, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was appointed special counsel for Hill’s death Thursday.

There is also an investigation under the state’s criminal investigations unit, under Yost, with the help of the United States Attorney’s office and the FBI’s Civil Rights Division.

Coy, a 17-year-old member of the force, was relieved of his duty, ordered to surrender his gun and badge, and was stripped of police powers last week.

Hill’s murder by Columbus police follows the fatal shooting of Casey Goodson Jr on Dec. 4 by a white Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy. The two consecutive shootings have resulted in a torrent of criticism from advocates and the black community in Columbus for broader and more comprehensive police reform.

“The firing of Adam Coy from the Columbus Police Division does not return Andre Hill to those who love him,” Ginther said in a statement Monday.

Hill’s family released a statement through attorney Ben Crump’s law firm, calling the decision to fire Coy “correct” but urging the police to do more.

“We need to redefine a relationship between the police and communities of color in which it is not fatal for a black person with a cell phone to meet a law enforcement officer,” the statement said.