Video released in police shooting of Black man holding cellphone

COLUMBUS, OHIO >> Body camera footage released Wednesday shows Andre Hill, a 47-year- old Black man, emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he is fatally shot by a Columbus police officer.

About six seconds pass between the time Hill is visible in the video and when the officer fires his weapon early Tuesday. There is no audio because the officer hadn’t activated the body camera; an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio.

Without audio, it’s unclear whether the officer, identified as Adam Coy, yelled any commands at Hill, whose right hand isn’t visible in the video. Authorities say no weapon was recovered from the scene. The city says Hill was visiting someone at the time.

After Coy activates the audio, he is heard using an expletive as he yells at Hill, now lying on the garage floor, to put his “hands off to the side! Hands out to the side now!”

A few seconds later, Coy yells at Hill, “Roll to your stomach now,” and then:

“Get your hand up from underneath you, now!”

Coy then asks a dispatcher, “We got a medic coming” and yells, “Don’t move, dude!” to Hill as he lies on his side groaning.

Hill died less than an hour later at a hospital.

Mayor Andrew Ginther and Police Chief Thomas Quinlan have expressed anger that Coy did not activate his body camera be

forehand. The 60- second look-back feature captured the shooting.

Coy, a 17-year member of the force, was relieved of duty, ordered to turn in his gun and badge, and stripped of police powers pending the outcome of investigations. By union contract, the officer will still be paid.

Relieving an officer of duty is common in Colum

bus after a shooting.

“In this case, the chief of police directly observed what he believes to be potential critical misconduct and is taking an intervening action of relief of duty until a disciplinary investigation can be completed,” said Glenn McEntyre, a spokesperson for the city Department of Public Safety, which oversees the police.

JOSHUA A. BICKEL — THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Columbus Division of Police Sgt. James Fuqua addresses members of the media Tuesday at the scene of an officer-involved shooting at the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive in Columbus, Ohio.