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Columbus, Ohio, police released graphic body cam video showing the Columbus police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.
Bryant was shot and killed by an officer in Columbus shortly before the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case was already focusing renewed attention on police-related deaths. Police said that she was wielding a knife and had attacked two people.
The video was played during a police press conference only a few hours after the shooting as police attempted to quell growing protests.
Police said that the girl shot was a “female with a knife trying to stab” another person when the officer fired. The body cam video shows the officer arriving to a chaotic fight scene, with Bryant attacking another female, who falls on the ground, before moving toward a second woman near a car, police say with a knife. The officer then shoots her dead. Officers are allowed to use deadly force to protect the life of a third person, authorities said; the shooting is under investigation, and the officer’s name has not been released.