The white Columbus, Oh., police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black man last week has been terminated, says the local Fraternal Order of Police. A hearing on whether officer Adam Coy should be fired concluded Monday. Brian Steel, vice president of FOP Capital City Lodge 9, confirmed Coy’s termination to the Columbus Dispatch. A preliminary report from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office determined Andre Hill’s death to be a homicide. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Hill’s family, said it was the “correct decision to terminate” Coy. A statement for the family said, “We need to redefine a relationship between police and communities of color in which it doesn’t turn deadly for a Black person with a cell phone to encounter a law enforcement officer.”
Coy was accused by the city of “unreasonable use of force,” not turning on his body camera and not rendering aid to Hill, who was lying for several minutes before he received assistance from emergency responders. Coy, 44, has worked in the police department for 19 years. He was one of two officers who responded to a nonemergency disturbance call about a parked SUV that had been running on and off for a period of time. Coy and another officer arrived around 1:50 a.m. last Tuesday. About 10 seconds after encountering Hill, who was inside a garage and was an expected guest at that home, Coy fired his gun weapon several times. Neither Coy nor the other officer turned their body cameras on until after the shooting. Because of a “look-back” feature that records the 60 seconds before the cameras are turned on, the shooting was captured on video.