Shocking moment cop fatally shoots unarmed man, 20, in his bed
WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: Shocking footage has captured the moment a 20-year-old unarmed man was fatally shot by police while in bed at his home.
Donovan Lewis, from the US state of Ohio, died in hospital after being shot in the early hours of Tuesday allegedly by Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Body camera footage shows Anderson and two police officers storm a second-floor apartment looking for Lewis, who they say was wanted on multiple warrants including domestic violence, assault and felony improper handling of a firearm.
The officers can be seen knocking on the door for several minutes before two men, neither of them Lewis, open it and step outside, where they are handcuffed.
When asked if anyone else is still inside the apartment, one of the men says he doesn’t know because he was sleeping.
“He’s gonna get bit by a dog,” one of the cops threatens before the canine unit enters the apartment with drawn handguns.
The dog heads straight for a closed bedroom door and begins to bark, prompting officers to believe someone is in there.
Anderson then leashes the dog and throws open the door, the video shows.
A bright torch can be seen shining on Lewis as the dazed man props himself up on his bed and is immediately shot by Anderson, falling back onto his mattress.
The officers yell at Lewis to show his hands and “crawl out” as he writhes and moans on the bed.
After 20 seconds, police enter his room and yell at Lewis to “stop resisting” as they cuff him.
Officers then carry the bleeding Lewis down the stairs of the apartment building and perform medical aid on him while waiting for an ambulance.
Lewis was pronounced dead at 3.19am at a nearby hospital, the Dispatch reports.
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Less than a second passed between Anderson pushing open the bedroom door as a police dog barked before the officer fired a single shot into Lewis’ abdomen, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant told reporters a day after the shooting.
It appeared that Lewis had a vaping device in his hand, and no weapons were found in the apartment, Bryant said. She has not addressed whether police believed the vape was a weapon.
Anderson has been placed on leave as a probe into the fatal shooting is launched by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Bryant said the police department is “committed to full transparency”, which is why they released the footage.
“Donovan Lewis lost his life,” she said, the Daily Mail reports.
“As a parent, I sympathise and grieve with his mother. I grieve with our community.
“Every day, officers are put in compromising, sometimes life-threatening situations in which we are required to make split-second decisions.
“As the chief, it is my job to hold my officers accountable, but it's also my job to offer them support and make sure I give that to them during the process.
“If they do the right things for the right reasons, we will support them. If they do something wrong, they will be held accountable.”
With Reuters/AP
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