OH - Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, fatally shot multiple times by Columbus police officer, 20 April 2021

[Peppery]

It was pretty obvious that MaKhia was not trying to escape. She was the aggressor, and that was obvious by her body language and the circumstances.

Was going to say the same thing. The other women/girls were not attempting to stab her. She appeared free to run to the safety of the arriving LEO if she needed protection.

 

[annpats]

I am curious why police in other countries can disarm children without killing them.

Most children in other countries aren't armed though, that's the thing. In fact, most adults aren't even armed.

 

[scriabina]

I can't make up my mind whether Ma'khia picked up the knife after pushing that girl to the ground. Who had it first? But I do know that she had a knife in her hand and she looked like she was going to use it to slash the girl in pink.

True, I don't know if I have it in me to watch the video again, but I didn't notice the knife when she pushed the first girl down. Was it clear MB had the knife from the beginning? (ETA: I see someone above mentions they saw MB holding the knife from the beginning, but still the scenario posed in paragraph 2 remains valid.) Is it possible she was able to wrestle the knife away from girl #1 and then run to girl #2 to "stand [her] ground"? The recently revised "stand your ground" law in Ohio eliminates the duty to retreat before using lethal force.*

Say you're at your house in Ohio and some girls showed up in your front yard threatening you and your family. You call the police. If I were in that situation, I would stay inside. However, others might handle the situation differently. You might feel compelled to protect your home and those inside more aggressively. You might feel scared, enraged, adrenaline pumping through your body. Perhaps this was the case with MB. Even if she grabbed a kitchen knife and ran outside to attack the trespassers, wouldn't that be legal by Ohio law? This could certainly cause confusion for officers who arrive on the scene and someone is in the middle of "standing their ground" with a weapon. All they see is someone attacking someone else. They don't know the circumstances. And so they end up shooting the person who had called for help in the first place, the person who was legally attempting to defend themselves.

*My comments do not mean to imply I support that new Ohio law.

 

[obripe]

Untrained discombobulated teens can be quite deadly, when armed with a knife and pinning another teen against a car.

So what would people in the community be saying, if the officer didnt immediately shoot, and the teen stabbed the girl in pink in her neck, killing her?

Would we be complaining that the officer didn't value the dead teen's life enough to step in and save her?

Honestly, I don't think that would be the conversation. I can't think of a single instance when a cop has been critisized for NOT killing somebody. Let me know if there's an example I'm missing?

 

[mickey2942]

It was pretty obvious that MaKhia was not trying to escape. She was the aggressor, and that was obvious by her body language and the circumstances.

I am very interested in this young woman's story. Why was she in foster care? Why didn't she live with her mother? What is her history?

When people call the police, they are not calling a social worker. There is a reason people call the police, because they are in a situation that requires law enforcement.

It would be interesting to know who called the police, and why...

 

[BeckyF]

Did she try to stab the police? Can't several police disarm a child with a knife?

She is a child in age, but the size of an adult. IMO

 

[mickey2942]

She is a child in age, but the size of an adult. IMO

When I taught school, a young boy, age 12, had a huge rage, he had Neurological issues, from being a "Crack Baby". He went from sitting in a desk, to throwing stuff around the classroom. He was 5'10" and weighed about 180, if not more.

There was nothing we could do, he started throwing desks, computers, it was scary. We got the other kids to safety, and called the school police. They had to do a "take down" on him. It took 3 men to tackle him, hold him down.

A 12 year old, "child".

 

[al66pine]

No Likely Violence?

... what I see in this instance. Ma'Kiah appears to be behaving in an uncoordinated, unfocused way. She lunges at one girl but doesn't stab her, and doesn't continue to attack her. She instead bounces towards another girl, and it appears likely that her intent was to stab her. AFAIK she hadn't actually injured anybody... her actions ... didn't present her as a girl likely to inflict real violence....

@obripe sbm bbm Thanks for your post. Based on body cam vid released at yesterday's presser, I see it differently, at least from initial impression. Within 10 - 12 (15?) sec's of LEO exiting his car, vid shows he had an opportunity to observe her behavior escalating. The heavy.com pic* shows this specific moment, which imo occurred close to the second the LEO decided to fire & did fire gun.

Ma’Khia -
- was holding ~ 8 to 12"(?) knife in her hand.
- was standing within arm's reach of Pink (female in pink clothing).
- was standing in such a way that Pink was effectively pinned against car, making retreat difficult if not impossible.
- was moving her arm in an arc which (if not prevented from continuing) would have sunk knife into Pink.

Pink, Female in Pink Clothing
- w her back to the car, was facing attacker w large knife in hand.
- in vid, just before the still, both hands hold a small dog at ~ her neck/shoulder level. In heavy.com still pic, dog was on ground.
- appeared to have no weapon w which to defend herself.

LEO observed Ma'Khia w knife in hand committing a deadly assault against Pink.
He could see knife would sink into Pink's head, face, neck, or her center mass w vital organs, possibly slicing an artery causing severe bleeding, and death by exsanguination in a matter of a few min's. Even w more LEOs later on scene giving medical assistance, a victim in Pink's position, stabbed w a knife, may die before ambulance arrives.
And he decided to act to prevent it.
I'm not saying he took the "right" action," just detailing factors he could see & consider in making decision.

Tho some vid viewers say she dropped knife before she was shot, I did not see knife on the ground before then.
To see the needed detail, view vid & pic on desktop or laptop, or device w a display larger-than-phone. my2ct.
___________________________________________
* The second still pic, w grids of LEO body cam vid. Ma’Khia Bryant Shooting: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

 

[BeckyF]

So, dereliction of duty, racism, and discrimination?

jmo

Sounds about right! I don’t know why the cops show up. Seems they can’t do anything right. JMO

 

[scriabina]

When I taught school, a young boy, age 12, had a huge rage...He was 5'10" and weighed about 180, if not more...A 12 year old, "child".

RSBM.

Children come in all shapes and sizes, but children are children, not "children," regardless of their size. Distinguishing between a child and a "child" based on physical attributes (or any aspects other than age) isn't appropriate IMO. I'm certain you know this already, but any 16-year-old child, no matter the size, has a brain that is still developing. She/he is still ruled by the amygdala & thus fight or flight responses. She/he is still more apt to behave impulsively. A 16-yr-old is a full-fledged child, not a "child," under any circumstances. Sorry if that sounds harsh; I mean no disrespect.

 

[Dawookie]

Unfortunately the officer was in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't situation. If he doesn't react in time, there's a chance the girl being threatened with the knife is seriously injured or killed, at which point he's going to get criticized for not doing anything.

He had to make a split second decision to respond to a deadly threat situation in the midst of chaos for which he is now being criticized. He didn't have time to deploy his taser, which isnt 100% effective. He followed his training and shot center mass to end the threat.

 

[kittythehare]

I am very interested in this young woman's story. Why was she in foster care? Why didn't she live with her mother? What is her history?

When people call the police, they are not calling a social worker. There is a reason people call the police, because they are in a situation that requires law enforcement.

It would be interesting to know who called the police, and why...

I'm really curious about this story too.
WE have very little information.
First reports I heard stated the victim had called the police but I have no idea whether she did or not.

As for the video we have seen, I think a single shot to the leg would have stopped her immediately without killing her.

We simply are working blind without the full story.

 

[coffeeandacig]

The sad truth is, our children are acting out in more violent ways than in most other countries. We have huge communities of children actively killing each other. I don't see it happening in other countries the way it is happening here.

London is terrible with young people and knife crimes. And don't forget Rio... Just so many places around the world, where children are violent toward other children. It's terrible. Drugs, and gangs fuel this worldwide problem. You're not living in another country, so you can't see what goes on
...but it's a huge problem, not only for the US.

 

[coffeeandacig]

As for the video we have seen, I think a single shot to the leg would have stopped her immediately without killing her.

No, shooting someone in the leg does not "guarantee" dropping the knife, nor does it "guarantee" stopping the perp from continuing.

 

[kittythehare]

No, shooting someone in the leg does not drop the knife, nor does it stop the perp from continuing.

Can you cite a source for that statement, please?

 

[coffeeandacig]

Can you cite a source for that statement, please?

I see I should have entered the words..
"Does not guarantee". Changes saved to quoted post.

 

[Dawookie]

Can you cite a source for that statement, please?

https://www-ajc-com.cdn.ampproject....the-case-deadly-force/IV4ohtIm6r8FaEMj78u1bO/

https://abcnews-go-com.cdn.ampproje...trained-shoot-wound-experts/story?id=40402933

Limbs are the hardest body part to hit, it's not guaranteed to stop the threat and it greatly increases the chance of a bystander being shot.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

EXPLAINER: Training limits officer's choice for deadly force

WHY DIDN'T THE OFFICER SHOOT AT MA'KIAH'S LEG TO STOP HER INSTEAD OF FIRING DIRECTLY AT HER CHEST?

Officers are trained that when they use their gun, they must stop the threat in front of them, Woods said. That means aiming at a person's center mass, the largest part of a person's body.

"When you try to start shooting legs, or arms, rounds miss and then they continue on and there are people behind that, that could be in danger that are not committing anything," Woods said. "So we try and minimize any danger to anyone else if we have to use our firearm."

Officers aren't trained to shoot and kill, Scott said, but to "neutralize the threat," which is why they focus on center mass. Scott called the scenario of an officer shooting an armed suspect in the leg "Hollywood stuff" that doesn't happen in real life.

 

[coffeeandacig]

I'm really curious about this story too.
WE have very little information.
First reports I heard stated the victim had called the police but I have no idea whether she did or not.

As for the video we have seen, I think a single shot to the leg would have stopped her immediately without killing her.

We simply are working blind without the full story.

Why are we working "blind"? What does it matter if the perp called? What does it matter if she had issues? A policeman stopped the attempted murder of a young unarmed teen girl.

 

[kittythehare]

https://www-ajc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.ajc.com/news/national/here-why-police-don-shoot-wound-the-case-deadly-force/IV4ohtIm6r8FaEMj78u1bO/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA==#aoh=16190752914943&referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.ajc.com/news/national/here-why-police-don-shoot-wound-the-case-deadly-force/IV4ohtIm6r8FaEMj78u1bO/

https://abcnews-go-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/US/police-trained-shoot-wound-experts/story?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&id=40402933&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA==#aoh=16190754758829&amp_ct=1619075475827&referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-trained-shoot-wound-experts/story?id=40402933

Limbs are the hardest body part to hit, it's not guaranteed to stop the threat and it greatly increases the chance of a bystander being shot.

Thanks.
I'm looking for state specific policy for this case.