Ohio probes police shooting of Black teenage girl caught on camera

COLUMBUS, Ohio, (Reuters) State investigators in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday were probing the fatal police shooting of a Black teenage girl in a confrontation caught on body-camera video that appeared to show her holding a knife and lunging at two people.

The girl, identified by police as 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, was shot on Tuesday around the same time a Minneapolis jury convicted a white former police officer of murdering George Floyd last year by kneeling on his neck.

Her shooting triggered immediate protests in Columbus, Ohio's state capital, just as the announcement of the guilty verdict in the Floyd case brought relief and jubilation to the Minnesota city.

Interim Police Chief Michael Woods identified the officer who shot Bryant as Nicholas Reardon, who was hired in December 2019. It appears from the video that he is white and that he fired four shots at Bryant. Woods said Reardon "would be taken off the street" pending an investigation.

A spokeswoman for Franklin County Children Services said Bryant was a foster child in the agency's care.

Bryant's aunt, Hazel Bryant, told the Columbus Dispatch newspaper that the teenager had become involved in an altercation with someone at her foster residence.

"She was a good kid, she was loving," the aunt told reporters on Tuesday, according to a video posted to Twitter. "She didn't deserve to die like a dog on the street."

Hazel Bryant could not immediately be reached on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the "tragic" shooting.

"She was a child. We're thinking of her friends and family and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss," Psaki said.