Body Camera Footage Shows Columbus Police Fatally Shot Unarmed Black Man After Refusing to Come Out of Bedroom

Columbus, Ohio, police have come under fire after fatally shooting a wanted unarmed Black man, 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, who was wanted on felony charges of assault, domestic violence, and improper handling of a firearm.

The Columbus Police Department released bodycam video on Wednesday of the Tuesday morning incident. Police repeatedly knocked on the door of Lewis’ apartment in the Hilltop neighborhood. They repeatedly call on “Apartment H” to “come to the door.” After several minutes, a Black man, not Lewis, opens the door and puts his hands up as instructed by police. He walks out backward and is handcuffed and detained. Another man, also not Lewis, walks out and is detained.

With the door opened, the police call on Lewis to come out. A police canine enters and runs around the apartment. Police warn Lewis the dog will bite him if he doesn’t come out. Police go into the apartment and walk toward a bedroom next to the kitchen. Minutes later, police open the bedroom door and a police officer Ricky Anderson immediately shoots Lewis. Police repeatedly both call for Lewis to show his hands and to “crawl out.” Police try to cuff the shirtless Lewis and tell him to stop resisting. Police carry him by his hands and legs.

Lewis was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead.

No weapon was discovered at Lewis’ apartment. “Lewis appeared to be holding the vape pen before he was shot,” according to The Columbus Dispatch, citing Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant.

Lewis family attorney Rex Elliott blasted the police for Lewis’ death.

“The bodycam footage released yesterday afternoon says it all,” he said in a statement on Thursday to local TV station WSYX. “In literally the blink of an eye, a Columbus police officer shot and killed Donovan Lewis, an unarmed young Black man who was alone in his bed in the middle of the night. As a result of this entirely reckless behavior by a Columbus police officer, a family is left to grieve the loss of such a young soul.”

“Donovan Lewis lost his life. As a parent, you know, I sympathize, and I grieve with his mother,” said Bryant at a news conference. “I grieve with our community, but we’re going to allow this investigation to take place.”

Watch above via CNN and Columbus Police Department.

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