Adam Coy, the Ohio police officer who fatally shot Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, last week was recently fired from his position and a criminal investigation is underway
Adam Coy, the Ohio police officer who last week fatally shot Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, has been fired from his position and a criminal investigation is underway, according to a statement. Just two days after Hill was shot dead in a garage, Columbus Police Chief Tom Quinlan called for the officer to be fired.
"Per the order of Police Chief Tom Quinlan, Coy has surrendered his gun and badge and has been stripped of all police powers," Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. wrote Monday, adding in a second statement, "the information, evidence, and representations made by Chief Quinlan as the investigator are, in my opinion, indisputable. His disciplinary recommendation is well-supported and appropriate."
He continued, "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."
As the chief of police, Quinlan has the authority to bring charges against officers, make recommendations for discipline and deliver findings to the director of public safety.
In his reasoning for requesting the officer's termination, Quinlan wrote that Coy, "had no immediate cause to believe criminal activity was afoot and certainly had no predisposition to believe Mr. Hill presented any threat to officers," adding that Coy "has violated his right to hold his position as a police officer."
The shooting took place last Tuesday after a neighbor made a report of a suspicious vehicle around 1:30 a.m., CBS News reported. Hill was found sitting in a car inside an open-door garage.
In a body-worn camera from the incident, Coy is seen exiting his car and walking, with another officer, towards Hill, who was inside of the garage. Hill is seen walking towards the two officers holding up his cell-phone just seconds before Coy shoots him. Coy then can be seen yelling at Hill, who remained motionless on the floor of the garage.
According to the video, Coy did not provide CPR or other medical care to Hill. A preliminary autopsy report indicated that Hill's death was a homicide and that he died from multiple gunshot wounds.
"We look forward to reviewing all the bodycam footage and determining everything that happened leading to Andre Hill's death," read a statement by Ben Crump, the attorney representing Hill's family.
Additional allegations of misconduct regarding Coy and the other officers who responded and their use of body-worn cameras and duty-rendered aid during the incident will be investigated. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said that Coy was ultimately fired from the department for not using reasonable use of force, not activating his body-worn camera, and not rendering aid to Hill.
Instead, the officer shouts, "don't move dude."
A feature of the body-worn camera within the department allows the camera to always be running so that, once switched to record, the camera keeps the previous 60 seconds of footage without the audio, NPR reported. Coy turned on his camera only after he shot Hill.
Ginther said that Hill was an "unexpected guest" at the residence he was killed, and was not an intruder, CBS News reported.
"Now we wait on the investigation of BCI, a presentation of the evidence to a grand jury and potential federal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice. We expect transparency, accountability and justice. The family and the entire community deserve it," Ginther said.
The Ohio Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, NPR reported. Coy has not been charged with a crime.
"When I became chief, I changed our core values to include accountability. This is what accountability looks like," Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan wrote in a statement Monday. "The evidence provided solid rationale for termination. Mr. Coy will now have to answer to the state investigators for the death of Andre Hill."
"I cannot fathom the pain, Andre's family is feeling right now," he said in a televised press conference. "He was taken from them by violence."
Coy didn't attend Monday's hearing but was represented by his union. His union representatives indicated that the city served Coy's attorney, who is on vacation, on Christmas Eve, after 5 p.m., before the holiday weekend, for the Monday hearing, CNN reported.
"They wanted to preserve 'all contractual and just-cause arguments' because the lawyer was not available," CNN wrote.
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