Blendon Township police Friday released bodycam footage showing the fatal police shooting last week of a young pregnant Black woman. Speaking through their attorney, the family of 21-year old Ta'Kiya Young denounced the August 24th incident as "hateful" and "avoidable".
The minute long video shows first one, then two officers banging on the window of a car in the parking lot of the Kroger store, telling Young to get out. Young asks why, and the unnamed officer says she is accused of stealing. Young refuses, and asks if the officers are going to shoot. As the car begins to roll out of the parking space, an officer in front of the vehicle pulls his gun and fires through the windshield.
Blendon Township Chief John Belford says officer immediately began to render aid, and that an emergency room doctor who was in the parking lot joined them 70 seconds after Young was pulled from the car. Belford declined to identify either of the officers, (citing Marsy's Law and saying the officers were both victims of attempted assault) but Young's family has identified the officer as Connor Grubb. They are calling for a "swift indictment" and are angry it took nearly a week for the police department to release the video.
Nana Watson, president of the Columbus chapter of the NAACP has also condemned the slow reaction and what she sees as a lack of transparency from Chief Belford. She wants to to see the footage from inside the store, and an inventory of the items in Young's car.
Blendon Township says the officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave. The investigation is being conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, typical in cases of police-involved shootings.
