The former police officer who shot to death unarmed black man thinking his cell phone is a weapon, is finally charged

The former police officer from Ohio was finally charged for shooting to death black unarmed man thinking that his cell phone is a weapon. Adam C. was fired from the police department after the internal investigation showed using unnecessarily excessive force.

The incident occurred in December when Adam shot to death Andre H. The officer responded to a 911 call for a suspicious man sitting in an SUV for some period of time turning the ignition on and off.

When officers arrived on the scene, they saw the man, sitting in an open garage holding his cell phone.

Seconds after the first contact, Adam thought the cell phone is a weapon and fired several shots to the victim. The body camera was turned off when the shooting occurred, so it remains unclear if Adam and Andre had any conversation before the shooting. The camera however automatically recorded 1-minute video, but no audio was saved.

The camera was activated right after the shooting and the video footage shows that more than 5 minutes have passed before the EMD arrived. The victim was transferred to hospital with several gunshot wounds where he later died.

It turned out that the garage belonged to Andre’s friend. Adam was fired from the police department shortly after the incident.

Two months after the incident, Adam has been arrested and charged with one count of murder, one count of felonious assault and two counts of dereliction duty. Adam pleaded not guilty and requested “a reasonable bond at the arraignment.”

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther thanked the grand jury for their service. “The community was outraged by the killing of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, by law enforcement,” Ginther wrote. “The indictment does not lessen the pain of his tragic death for Mr. Hill’s loved ones, but it is a step towards justice.”

We will update the story as more details become available with this case.