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Police observed no threats from Andre Hill before fatal shooting, report says

ColumbusShooting Andre Hill
Posted at 9:23 AM, Dec 31, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-31 11:18:19-05

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Released records show an officer on the scene of last week's fatal shooting of Andre Hill did not observe any threats before a fellow officer fired at him.

Internal affairs reports released this week show that Columbus Officer Amy Detwiler was with Officer Adam Coy when the Dec. 22 shooting happened.

The records show Detwiler heard Coy say Hill had a gun in his hand but Detwiler did not see a gun. No gun was found.

Coy, a 19-year veteran, turned on his body camera after the shooting began. However, the system Columbus uses has a "look back" function that records about a minute of video before it is activated, according to investigators. The "look back" clip does not contain audio, so Detwiler's account of what she saw and heard can help investigators fill in the details of what happened.

Body cam video shows Hill, who is Black, walking toward the officers with a cellphone in his left hand and his right hand not visible.

The city fired Coy, who is white, on Tuesday, accusing him of incompetence and “gross neglect of duty,” among other charges.