The family of a guy, 20, who was shot and killed by a veteran Columbus police officer early on Tuesday morning, has called for protests to be held peacefully and for reform to be implemented.
Officer Ricky Anderson shot Donovan Lewis once in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Lewis’ residence in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue in the Hilltop district of the city.
Police officers from Columbus had gone to Lewis’s home in an attempt to serve arrest warrants for him on allegations of domestic abuse, assault, and felony illegal handling of a handgun.
More:a Here’s rundown of events leading up to and including Donovan Lewis’s shooting by Columbus police
Lewis’s shooting was the third within eight days in late August and the sixth involving Columbus police in 2022. There have been no fatalities in any of the other shootings involving Columbus police this year.
Pozz Striblin, 20, was shot and killed by SWAT deputies from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in June. The incident occurred outside a petrol station in Mifflin Township. Striblin was wanted for questioning in May after two people were killed.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation would be leading the investigation into Tuesday morning’s shooting and released footage from a body camera that captured the incident. After the inquiry is finished, it will be referred to a grand jury for possible indictment.
Anderson is represented by local attorney Mark Collins, who released a statement on Thursday saying that under Ohio law, retroactive consideration is not allowed.
Unlike the rest of us, police officers “are not granted the luxury of armchair reflection when they are presented with rapidly shifting, combustible contacts in dangerous situations,” Collins said, therefore it’s important to consider all of the facts when analyzing police shootings. “This means that an officer acting reasonably is entitled to the same legal protections as the rest of us civilians. We have no doubt that the investigation will be exhaustive, and we can only pray that the ensuing court proceedings are conducted with more fairness than we have witnessed recently.”
COPs Fraternal Organization Lodge No. 9 of the Capital City The union’s president, Jeff Simpson, has stated that no further comments will be made.
The Dispatch has seen a letter written by Simpson to members in which he warns that officers would come under closer scrutiny in the coming days and weeks “as we will see the attempt to adjudicate this incident in the public eye.”
On Thursday morning, all was calm at Lewis’s old apartment building on Sullivant Avenue.
Only a handful of cars were really occupying the available parking spots.
There was no letter on Lewis’s old apartment door.
To the right of us is the apartment where Candy Adams and one of her boys live.
Although she was not at her residence on the night of the shooting, she has subsequently read about it and seen the body cam footage that police made public.
Adams, standing outside her house on Thursday morning, voiced her disagreement with the police’s handling of the case.
She felt that the officers should have given Lewis more time to comply with their orders.
Adams stated, “The police officer should be dismissed and should do time for what he did.” Donovan was so caught off guard that he couldn’t respond. As soon as he sat up in bed, he was shot. The fact is, you’re doing it badly.
Candy Adams is photographed on Thursday outside of her Sullivan Avenue, Unit G, Columbus, Ohio, home. Adams is Donovan Lewis’ next-door neighbor. Lewis was slain by police on Tuesday.
Adams, who has been a tenant in the building for four months, is now afraid of the police because of the shooting.
She’s already prepared her sons for what to do if the cops are called to the apartment complex again.
It’s possible that they’ll enter the wrong dwelling. Adams acknowledged, “Errors do occur.”
According to Adams, several of the building’s inhabitants have already left the complex since Tuesday.
Matthew, her son, resides in the apartment down the airy corridor.
As a matter of fact, he was more familiar with Lewis than Lewis’s own mother was. Lewis initiated the introduction by asking for a smoke from him.
Matthew deemed him to be a decent human being. We chatted about random things here and there. He promised to make certain changes in his life.
Matthew said that Lewis had an anger management issue.
As Matthew put it, “Unfortunately, he couldn’t fully control (his rage).
