Source: GoFundMe
Bodycam video from the deadly police shooting of a pregnant Black woman in Ohio shows an officer firing his gun directly into a car windshield in a heavily populated grocery store parking lot last weekend.
The footage of Ta’Kiya Young’s final moments alive was released on Friday morning amid demands for accountability in the shooting by a police officer in Blendon Township.
In the footage, an officer is shown demanding Young, 21, get out of her car for the suspicion of stealing alcohol from a Kroger store. Young’s voice is muffled but it’s clear she is refusing to do so.
Another officer then approaches and stands directly in front of Young’s car and uses expletives to order her out.
That’s when the car crept forward and the officer standing directly in front shot her once through the windshield.
The video footage is graphic and nature and should be viewed with discretion. You can view it by clicking here.
Even before the bodycam video was released Friday, critics took to social media with one referring to police officers’ “intentional decision to execute Ta’Kiya Young.”
The bodycam footage seemingly contradicts the police narrative about what happened.
ABC 6 reported that Blendon Police Chief John Belford said Young put her car in drive and accelerated toward an officer.
Sean Walton, the attorney representing Young’s family, disputed that account and also said a witness came forward to say that Young did not steal anything.
More importantly, though, is how the police decided to use lethal force when circumstances from the bodycam video suggest none was needed at all.
There are also police policies about shooting into a moving vehicle to contend with.
Below is the Blendon Police Department use of force policy:
“When feasible, officers should take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle or any of its occupants. An officer should only discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupants when the officer reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available to avert the imminent threat of the vehicle, or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed at the officer or others. Officers should not shoot at any part of a vehicle in an attempt to disable the vehicle.”
“Ta’Kiya was in a state of flight from the moment she was allegedly pointed out to the officers until her life was taken,” Walton previously said in a statement. “She is the victim here, and we demand accountability for the loss of two precious lives — Ta’Kiya and her unborn daughter. The officer responsible must be identified, the body camera footage must be released immediately, and the officer and this department must be held accountable for his escalation of this incident that led to their deaths.”
Walton raised the suspicion of corruption with the delay in making the bodycam footage public.
“We have to understand how unfair this process is and why we have push for accountability,” Walton previously said. “The only victims here are Ta’Kiya and her unborn child.”
As of Friday, a GoFundMe account set up for Young has already exceeded its $5,000 goal. Donations are still being accepted and can be made by clicking here.
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