STEVEN: IN THE VIDEO YOU SEE 20-YEAR-OLD DONOVAN LEWIS, UNARMED SITTING IN BED. WITHIN ONE SECOND OF OPENING THE DOOR, HE WAS SHOT BY AN OFFICER. WHAT YOU ARE SEEING IS BODY CAMERA VIDEO FROM JUST AFTER TWO -- JUST AFTER 2:00 ON TUESDAY MORNING. COLUMBUS POLICE CHIEF ELAINE BRYANT SAYS OFFICERS WERE SERVING A WARRANT ON 20-YEAR-OLD DONOVAN LEWIS FOR IMPROPERLY HANDLING A FIREARM, ASSAULT, AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. YOU CAN HEAR OFFICERS KNOCKING AND IDENTIFYING THEMSELVES OUTSIDE AN APARTMENT IN THE VIDEO. ACCORDING TO CHIEF BRYANT, EIGHT TO TEN MINUTES GO BY BEFORE ANYONE ANSWERS. EVENTUALLY TWO MEN COME OUT AND ARE DETAINED. NEITHER ARE LEWIS SO POLICE SEND IN A DOG. THEN THEY GO IN AND LEASH THE DOG. HERE’S A LOOK IN REAL TIME OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. WE’RE STOPPING THE VIDEO SO IT DOES NOT SHOW LEWIS GETTING SHOT BY THE K-9 OFFICER. DURING A NEWS CONFERENCE, CHIEF BRYANT SHOWED THE VIDEO IN REAL TIME AND THEN FRAME BY FRAME. >> AS YOU’RE LOOKING AT THIS FRAME BY FRAME, THERE APPEARS TO SOMETHING -- TO BE SOMETHING, RAISES HIS HAND. STEVEN: HERE’S THE SAME VIDEO SLOWED DOWN. YOU CAN SEE LEWIS’ LEFT ARM ON THE BED, HIS RIGHT ARM COMING OVER HIS BODY AND HERE’S THAT SAME MOMENT FROM THE BODY CAMERA OF THE OFFICER WHO FIRED. NO GUNS WERE FOUND AT THE SCENE AND CHIEF BRYANT SAYS SOMETHING LIKE A VAPE PEN WAS FOUND ON THE BED. >> DONOVAN LEWIS LOST HIS LIFE, AS A PARENT I SYMPATHIZE AND I GRIEVE WITH HIS MOTHER. AS A COMMUNITY, I GRIEVE WITH OUR COMMUNITY BUT WE’RE GOING TO ALLOW THIS INVESTIGATION TO TAKE PLACE. STEVEN: STATE OFFICIALS ARE LEADING THE INVESTIGATION. >> WHEN OUR OFFICERS HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING, WE’RE GOING TO STAND WITH THEM. AND WHEN THEY DO THE WRONG THING WE’RE GOING TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE. WE CAN’T DO EITHER OF THOSE THINGS RIGHT NOW UNTIL THIS INVESTIGATION IS COMPLETE. STEVEN: COLUMBUS POLICE SAY THE OFFICER WHO SHOT LEWIS IS RICKY ANDERSON. HE’S SERVED ON THE FORCE FOR THIRTY YEARS. HE WAS PLACED ON LEAVE PENDING AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SHOOTING
Body cam video shows Columbus police shoot unarmed Black man inside home
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Updated: 5:37 PM EDT Aug 31, 2022
A man fatally shot by police in Ohio's capital city appeared to be holding a vape pen in his hand, the city police chief said as an investigation was underway into the shooting.Donovan Lewis, 20, died at a hospital following the shooting early Tuesday morning. Columbus police say officers were at the scene to arrest Lewis on multiple warrants including domestic violence, assault and felony improper handling of a firearm.Police body-cam footage shows an officer opening a bedroom door in an apartment and immediately shooting Lewis, who was in bed. Lewis appeared to be holding the vape pen before he was shot, said Columbus police chief Elaine Bryant. No weapon was found.Bryant has not addressed whether police believed the device was a weapon, a determination that will come during the probe by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.Bryant said the city was committed to holding officers responsible if there was any wrongdoing but the state investigation needed to play out first.Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, who hired Bryant last year, said that “regardless of the circumstances, a mother has lost her son in the city of Columbus.”The U.S. Justice Department agreed in 2021 to review Columbus police department practices after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people and the city's response to 2020 racial injustice protests.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man fatally shot by police in Ohio's capital city appeared to be holding a vape pen in his hand, the city police chief said as an investigation was underway into the shooting.
Donovan Lewis, 20, died at a hospital following the shooting early Tuesday morning. Columbus police say officers were at the scene to arrest Lewis on multiple warrants including domestic violence, assault and felony improper handling of a firearm.
Police body-cam footage shows an officer opening a bedroom door in an apartment and immediately shooting Lewis, who was in bed.
Lewis appeared to be holding the vape pen before he was shot, said Columbus police chief Elaine Bryant. No weapon was found.
Bryant has not addressed whether police believed the device was a weapon, a determination that will come during the probe by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Bryant said the city was committed to holding officers responsible if there was any wrongdoing but the state investigation needed to play out first.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, who hired Bryant last year, said that “regardless of the circumstances, a mother has lost her son in the city of Columbus.”
The U.S. Justice Department agreed in 2021 to review Columbus police department practices after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people and the city's response to 2020 racial injustice protests.
