Columbus Division of Police and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office released body-worn camera and dash cam footage Thursday showing police confronting, shooting and killing a man, officials say shot at a sheriff's deputy at an east side apartment complex on July 8.
During a joint press conference, officials from CPD and the sheriff's office say police and a deputy shot and killed 45-year-old Antwan Lindsey after a brief standoff inside the stairwell of the apartment complex, located at 3110 East Livingston Avenue around 8 p.m.
Four officers are on administrative leave, which is standard procedure, while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. No officers were shot by Lindsey.
In body cam footage, what appears to be Lindsey's firearm is seen on the ground for at least 40 seconds before officers tase Lindsey. As he appeared to fall to the ground, away from the gun, officers on the other side of the door fired at Lindsey.
Police Chief Elaine Bryant did not speculate on the responding officers' actions and deferred to the investigation being conducted by the BCI. After the investigation, the case will be presented to a grand jury to review and decide if charges will be filed against the officers.
"BCI is investigating after the investigation is concluded. They will make the determination on what's going to happen at that point. It is up to them for any for any type of discipline. If there's going to be any discipline that would be determined by the safety director's office," Bryant said.
"What you saw on the video is what we saw on the video," Bryant also said.
The names of the officers, nor the sheriff's deputy, have not been released.
Police are citing Marsy's Law, which classifies officers in situations like this as victims of crimes and protects their identities from being released publicly.
Police blurred the faces and badges of the officers and the deputy, and also redacted audio where their names were said.
Here's what the body camera and dash camera footage shows from Saturday's shooting:
The footage showed a Franklin County sheriff's deputy leaving a Walgreens, located at 3015 East Livingston Avenue, just before 8 p.m., after a man approached him and said he was concerned about Lindsey, who was upset about his car being towed and was behaving erratically.
The deputy told the man to call 911, because it was Columbus police's jurisdiction, but the man said Lindsey had a gun. As the deputy walked outside to his cruiser, two gunshots could be heard in the distance.
The deputy drove to the apartment near the corner of East Livingston Avenue and James Road. As the deputy parked in a driveway of the apartment, more gunshots were heard and the deputy talked into a radio stating someone was firing at him.
A standoff ensued between Lindsey and the deputy. The deputy fired back multiple times, as Lindsey stood in the doorway and repeatedly opened and closed the door. The deputy yelled at Lindsey to put his hands up or surrender at least 30 times.
The deputy's handgun appeared to jam during the standoff and he tried to clear the jam. The deputy said to another responding officer that he thinks he shot Lindsey, and that Lindsey "went down."
As Lindsey and the deputy exchanged gunfire, two separate groups of Columbus police officers entered the back of the apartment building. As the officers entered the building, they split into two groups.
Additional body camera footage showed the perspective of the CPD officers. One group went up stairs to head off Lindsey, who was in the front entrance. The other group went through the first floor directly towards Lindsey.
One camera is from officers who went into the basement and then fired at Lindsey. Another camera is from an officer at the front of the building who tased Lindsey. A third camera is from an officer at the front of the building, who saw a gun on the floor of the apartment building, but did not fire his weapon, according to police.
The video shows Lindsey standing in the doorway, with part of his body and only one hand visible to officers on each side, as he was wedged between the door.
The video also showed that the group of officers who went downstairs could not see the firearm, which was on the other side of the door on the floor.
It is unclear whether either group of officers knew another set of officers was confronting Lindsey from the other side of the door.
The officers gave multiple commands for Lindsey to put his hands up. One officer in the downstairs hallway yelled that Lindsey had a gun. About 20 seconds later, an officer who was downstairs said, "Is that a gun? I can't tell."
In video from officers positioned at the front of the building, a handgun is seen on the floor for at least 40 seconds before officers first tased and then fired their guns at Lindsey a split second later.
The videos do not show Lindsey dropping a gun or how the weapon ended up on the floor. There is no other gun shown in the video. As Lindsey is tased, he falls forward, away from the handgun and on to the floor.
An ambulance was on scene during the standoff and gave aid to Lindsey almost immediately after he was shot, according to police. He was taken to Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m.
Police said the four officers had between two and 10 years of experience each, and the deputy had 19 years of experience with the sheriff's office.
