Andre Hill: Police fire officer who shot and killed Black man holding mobile phone in Ohio

The Columbus city on Monday fired a white police officer who last week shot and killed 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man, who was holding up a mobile phone.

Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who has been a part of the force for 17 years, will now face criminal investigation for the death of Mr Hill.  

The termination was announced on Monday hours after the Columbus Public Safety Director, Ned Pettus Jr, in a disciplinary hearing for Mr Coy, upheld the Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan’s recommendation to terminate the police officer.  

“The information, evidence and representation made by Chief Quinlan as the investigator are, in my opinion, indisputable. His disciplinary recommendation is well supported and appropriate,” said Mr Pettus.  

He said the action of Mr Coy “do not live up to the oath of a Columbus Police officer, or the standards we, and the community, demand of our officers.” 

“The shooting of Andre Hill is a tragedy for all who loved him in addition to the community and our division of police,” said Mr Pettus in a statement.

The police chief of Columbus, which is the capital of Ohio, said, “this is what accountability looks like.”  

“Mr Coy will now have to answer the state investigators for the death of Andre Hill,” said Mr Quinlan, who had expedited investigation in the case and last week released a video statement that said he had seen enough to recommend Mr Coy’s termination from the force.

On 22 December, Mr Coy and another police officer responded to a neighbour’s non-emergency call about a car in front of his house in the city’s northwest side that had been running, then shut off, then turned back on.

The police officer had not activated the body camera but an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio. The footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a mobile phone in his left hand and then a few seconds later he was fatally shot by Mr Coy.  

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

Mr Pettus further said that the use of body cameras and duty to render aid will be among the actions under further review.  He informed that “additional investigation of misconduct regarding Mr Coy and other police officers who responded to this critical incident will continue to be investigated.”

According to the police’s policy, officers are required to activate their body cameras when they go out to investigate major incidents such as a shooting, robbery or burglary.  

Earlier this year, protests erupted in the US after George Floyd, a Black man, died in Minneapolis when a police officer, while arresting him, knelt on his neck. The protests led to the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement and demands were raised against excessive use of power by police personnel. In some places, demand was made for defunding the police department.

Additional reporting by agencies