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Killing of Ma'Khia Bryant

Part of 2020–2021 United States racial unrest
Ma'Khia Bryant lunging with a knife just before she was shot, as shown by Officer Nicholas Reardon's body camera
Date	April 20, 2021 (2021-04-20)
Time	4:45 p.m. EDT (UTC−4)
Location	Columbus, Ohio, United States
Type	Shooting
Participants	CPD officer Nicholas Reardon
Deaths	Ma'Khia Bryant

On April 20, 2021, Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old black girl, was fatally shot by police officer Nicholas Reardon in southeast Columbus, Ohio. Body camera and security camera footage released after the shooting shows Bryant brandishing a knife and charging two women consecutively, leading up to the moment Officer Reardon fired four shots; Bryant was struck at least once. Bryant immediately collapsed and was unresponsive. Reardon and other officers on the scene administered first aid. Bryant was transported to the hospital in critical condition where she was later pronounced dead. The case was investigated by state authorities and then referred to local authorities. Reactions from the public included support of the actions of the officer and protests against the killing.

People involved

Ma'Khia Bryant was a 16-year-old black girl who lived in suburban Columbus, Ohio. In February 2019, she and three of her siblings were removed from their mother and lived with their paternal grandmother for 16 months. After the landlord refused to allow their grandmother to have the children, Bryant and her sister were placed in group homes in foster care with the Franklin County Children Services system. On February 14, 2021, she moved into the private foster home where the shooting later occurred, joining her 15-year-old sister who had already been living there for a year. Bryant was described by her foster mother as a quiet, untroubled girl who did not start fights.

Nicholas Reardon is a police officer who was 23 years old at the time of the killing, and had been hired by the Columbus Division of Police in December 2019. He served in the Ohio Air National Guard 121st Security Forces Squadron for almost two years before deciding to become a police officer.

Incident

External videos
Columbus Police show body cam footage of officer shooting, killing teen girl, YouTube video by NBC4 Columbus

Bryant and her younger sister resided in foster care at the home of Angela Moore. On April 20, 2021, one of Moore's former foster children, 22-year-old Tionna Bonner, was alone with Bryant and her younger sister after they returned home from school. Following a dispute over housework, Bonner called another former foster child of Moore's, Shai-Onta Lana Craig-Watkins, now 20 years old, and Bryant's sister called her grandmother. When Moore came home from work, she was told that Bryant and the two women were arguing about housekeeping. Bryant's sister and grandmother have said Bonner pulled out a knife, and Bryant took a steak knife from the kitchen.

Bryant's sister called 911 at 4:32 p.m., saying "We got Angie's grown girls trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put her hands on our grandma. Get here now!" Around 4:45 pm EDT, officers from the Columbus Division of Police responded to a 911 call reporting an attempted stabbing at the foster home.

As Officer Reardon arrived at the home, surveillance footage from multiple angles showed several people in the driveway, including Bryant, who had emerged from behind the house. Reardon can be heard saying, "Hey. What's going on?" Bryant then pushed Craig-Watkins, in front of Reardon and fell over her. Bryant's father tried to kick Craig-Watkins. Reardon drew his service pistol and shouted "Hey!" four times.

Brandishing a knife, Bryant then lunged toward Bonner, and pinned her to a car. As she did this, Reardon then yelled at Bryant "Get down!" multiple times. As Bryant reached back with the knife, Reardon then fired four shots, striking Bryant, who collapsed on the driveway.

Police officers administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. Bryant was transported to Mount Carmel East where she was later pronounced dead at 5:21 pm EDT.

Reactions

Later that evening, Interim Chief of Police Michael Woods held a press conference about the shooting. Woods stated that the department's use of force policies permitted deadly force to protect the officer's own life or the life of another person. On April 21, Woods held another press conference, during which two 911 calls relating to the shooting were played. During the first, the caller tells the dispatcher that there were girls trying to stab them. More body camera footage was also released. Andrew Ginther, the Democratic mayor of Columbus, said that the footage from the cruiser camera would be released later that day or the following morning.

Over the following days, multiple experts on use of force policies stated that Reardon acted with reasonable use of force that was legally justified. Those interviewed included Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor, and James Scanlon, a Columbus Division of Police veteran and former trainer who has served as an expert witness at use-of-force trials. The two said guns are an appropriate response to situations involving lethal force, and that police are trained to target a person's center mass, in order to effectively neutralize the threat. Stinson stated that if Reardon failed to act, it would likely have led to serious bodily harm or death. Geoffrey Alpert and Seth Stoughton, criminology and criminal justice professors and use-of-force experts at the University of South Carolina, concurred that the use of deadly force seemed appropriate.

Some supported the police officer's actions. Mayor Ginther said that "based on this footage, the officer took action to protect another young in our community", calling the shooting a tragic day. On Face the Nation, Democratic Congresswoman and former police chief Val Demings said, "But the limited information that I know in viewing the video, it appears that the officer responded as he was trained to do with the main thought of preventing a tragedy and a loss of life of the person who was about to be assaulted." CNN commentators Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon agreed that if the officer did not react in the time that he did, Bonner could have been killed, resulting in two tragic deaths instead of one. Conservative commentator Meghan McCain stated "she was about to stab another girl and I think the police officer did what he thought he had to do."

However, some others did not support the measures taken by police. Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, told reporters that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation, and that the shooting was tragic, underscored the systemic racism in policing, and made reference to higher rates of police violence experienced by Black and Latino communities and the particular vulnerabilities of children in foster care. In addition to Psaki, Senators Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock voiced concerns that the killing pointed to the need for police reform to address "systemic racism and implicit bias". Professional basketball player LeBron James posted a tweet of an image of Reardon captioned "YOU'RE NEXT", referring to the conviction of Derek Chauvin, and then deleted it. Liberal commentator Joy Behar stated that the police should have shot the air and there is "something wrong" if the only solution to someone potentially killing another human is to use deadly force.

Bryant's parents, Paula Bryant and Myron Hammonds reacted to their daughter's killing with outrage, with Bryant saying "my daughter dispatched Columbus police for protection, not to be a homicide", and Hammonds calling his daughter "my peacemaker" and saying "to know Ma'Khia is to know life." Bryant's funeral was held on April 30 in Columbus.

About 50 protesters gathered in Downtown Columbus on the night of the shooting; more gathered as they marched to the police headquarters to protest the shooting. At 2 p.m. on April 21, over 500 Ohio State University students marched from the Ohio Union to the Ohio Statehouse, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and "Say her name". More than 150 protesters gathered for a vigil for Bryant followed by a march to Columbus Division of Police headquarters later that day. At 9:30 p.m., a group of between 200 and 250 protesters marched to the Ohio Judicial Center. Within a few days of the killing, other protests occurred in Denver, Colorado, Miami, Florida, and Sacramento, California.

Investigation

Investigation of the shooting was transferred to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), which is routine for all police shootings in Columbus. On July 7, 2021, it was announced that the BCI completed its investigation. Following normal procedure, the investigation did not include the determination of fault or charges. The case was referred to the Franklin County Prosecutor G. Gary Tyack, who then assigned Columbus attorneys H. Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer to handle the case as Special Prosecutors. It will eventually go to a grand jury.

On April 28, 2021, the family of Ma'Khia Bryant and their lawyer, Michelle Martin, held a press conference and called for a federal investigation into Bryant's death and Ohio's foster care system.

See also

• List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, April 2021

References

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External links

• [REDACTED] Media related to Killing of Ma'Khia Bryant at Wikimedia Commons

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• 2021 controversies in the United States
• 2020–2021 United States racial unrest
• 21st century in Columbus, Ohio
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• April 2021 events in the United States
• African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
• Child deaths
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