The Justice Department joins the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting of a Black man holding a sandwich, not a gun, when he was killed in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 4.
Deputy Jason Meade is named as the officer who fatally shot Goodson on that fateful day.
Casey Goodson was apparently inside his home with a sandwich when he was fatally shot in front of his mother and two toddlers, according to a new report by the Associated Press. Police maintained Goodson was outside of his home and tried to justify the lethal force because they mistook the sandwich for a gun.
The details follow the announcement that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost declined to take up the case citing that Columbus police took three days to bring the case to their attention. Columbus police also waited two days before they released Goodson’s name as the victim.
In a rare move, the Ohio Attorney General has refused the request of Columbus police to take over the investigation into the shooting death of #CaseyGoodson. Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/9DthBEfssP
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) December 8, 2020
“We received a referral to take a three-day-old officer-involved shooting case,” a spokesperson for Yost said in a statement Monday night. “Not knowing all the reasons as to why so much time has passed before the case was referred to BCI, we cannot accept this case.”