Multiple police officers stood by for several minutes without offering any first aid to Andre Hill after he was shot by another officer, according to body-cam footage released on Thursday.
The video from several Columbus officers show that Hill, a 47-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by officer Adam Coy, who is white, was still alive and lying on a garage floor by himself while officers were securing the area.
Roughly five minutes after Hill was shot, one officer could be heard saying: “Let’s cuff him up. He’s still moving.”
Two officers then rolled Hill on to his stomach as they handcuffed him and then put him on his back while other officers waited for an ambulance to arrive. One officer stood over Hill, shining a flashlight on him. Minutes later, a supervisor showed up and asked, “Anybody doing anything for him?” The supervisor then ordered an officer to start pumping Hill’s chest.
Thomas Quinlan, the police chief, said he was horrified by the lack of compassion shown in the body-cam videos.
“As a police chief, and just as a human being, the events of the last week have left me shaken, and heartbroken for the family of Andre Hill,” Quinlan said in a statement. “Every man and woman who wears this badge should feel the same.”
Coy shot Hill on 22 December, when Hill emerged from the garage holding a cellphone with his left hand and his right hand not visible. Another officer on the scene said she didn’t perceive any threats and didn’t see a gun, contrary to a mistaken claim by Coy.
The city fired Coy on Tuesday, accusing him of incompetence and “gross neglect of duty”, among other charges.
According to the body-cam video, Coy told another officer leading him away from the home: “I gotta figure out what I missed.”
“We’ll take care of that I promise you,” officer Jared Barsotti responded.
Coy and officer Amy Detweiler were responding to a neighbor’s non-emergency call when they encountered Hill.
A woman inside a house where Hill was shot told the officers moments after the shooting that he was coming over to bring her Christmas money, according to the body-cam footage.
“He was bringing me Christmas money. He didn’t do anything,” she shouted.