Decision Is Reached on Cop Who Killed Andre Hill

Adam Coy is fired; he's under criminal investigation as well
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2020 12:06 AM CST
Cop Who Fatally Shot Andre Hill Fired
A vigil is held for Andre' Hill at the Brentnell Community Recreation Center on Columbus. Ohio, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. The police chief of Columbus, Ohio, recommended on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020, that the officer who shot and killed Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, earlier this week be fired.   (Gaelen Morse/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

The Ohio police officer who fatally shot Andre Hill less than 10 seconds after encountering him has been fired. Adam Coy responded to a non-emergency call in Columbus last week when he came upon Hill, a Black man; his neighbor had called to complain that someone was turning a car engine on and off in the wee hours of the morning. Coy allegedly shot and killed Hill in his garage, as the unarmed man walked toward Coy holding an illuminated cellphone. A disciplinary hearing was held Monday, CNN reports. "The actions of Adam Coy do not live up to the oath of a Columbus Police officer, or the standards we, and the community, demand of our officers," Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. said in a statement announcing the decision.

Termination was recommended not just because of the fatal shooting but because Coy, a 17-year veteran, failed to turn on his bodycam initially and also failed to administer first aid to Hill after the shooting. "Known facts do not establish that this use of deadly force was objectively reasonable. You failed to de-escalate, and failed to render aid," Pettus wrote in his ruling. Coy is under criminal investigation, the AP reports, and Columbus' mayor applauded Coy's dismissal. "Now we wait on the investigation of BCI, a presentation of the evidence to a grand jury and potential federal charges from the US Department of Justice. We expect transparency, accountability and justice," he said. (More police shooting stories.)

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