A Columbus police officer shot and killed a 20-year-old man, Donovan Lewis early on Tuesday while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on him. Body camera footage from the incident revealed that the Black man was unarmed and sitting in bed next to what might have been a vape pen.
In a media briefing that Mayor Andrew Ginther attended on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the shooting, the footage was made available to the public. Donovan Lewis, age 20, was the victim, and according to court documents, the cops were executing a warrant for assault, domestic abuse, and improper handling of a handgun.
“A mother has lost her son today in the city of Columbus,” Ginther said.
Description of the events leading to the killing of Donovan Lewis
According to Nbc4, the following are the events that led to the death of Donovan Lewis.
Officers went to an apartment building in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue to serve the warrant. The footage showed them knock on an apartment door for 8-10 minutes before a man answered and was taken into custody. Officers saw another man inside the entrance of the apartment and detained him as well.
They asked both occupants if anyone else was inside, and neither would say. Police then yelled inside to warn anyone inside they were releasing a K9, with no response.
The video showed the dog move to the kitchen and start barking at a back bedroom door. The dog’s handler, Officer Ricky Anderson, moved to hold the dog back and open the door, while another officer followed him. Both had their guns drawn and pointed in the direction of the door.
Within one second of opening the door, Anderson shot Donovan Lewis as he sat up in a bed against the back corner of the room. Police said Anderson shot Lewis while he was wrangling the K9.
Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the force, was placed on leave pending an investigation of the shooting.
Chief Elaine Bryant said Anderson fired his gun when Lewis appeared to raise a hand with something in it. Moving frame-by-frame through the video showed the man raising his right hand toward officers, while he put his left hand back toward a pillow.
“There was, like, a vape pen that was found on the bed right next to him,” Bryant said.
After the shooting, the footage showed officers putting Donovan Lewis in handcuffs while he was on the bed and then carrying him out of the apartment. It wasn’t clear from the video where he was shot, as police pulled his pants off outside but also appeared to try to treat the left side of his chest.
After trying to treat his gunshot wound at the scene, medics took him to Grant Medical Center in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 3:19 a.m.
“Donovan Lewis lost his life,” Bryant said. “As a parent, I sympathize and grieve with his mother. As a community, I grieve with our community, but we’re going to allow this investigation to take place.”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation said it is taking the point on the investigation, as it does on any shooting involving Columbus police based on an agreement between the agencies.
“Every day, officers are put in compromising potentially life-threatening situations in which we are required to make split-second decisions,” Bryant said. “As the chief, it is my job to hold my officers accountable, but it’s also my job to offer them support.”
“When our officers have done the right thing, we’re going to stand with them,” Ginther said. “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.”
The shooting comes less than two years after a Columbus police officer lost his job days after shooting a Black man who turned out to be unarmed. In that case, Officer Adam Coy apparently mistook Andre Hill’s phone for a possible gun. Hill was 47 when Coy responded to a nonemergency call and found Hill in a neighboring driveway.
Following that shooting, Ginther moved to bring in an outsider to run Columbus’ police department, selecting Bryant as chief in June 2021.
