Washington | U.S. police on Tuesday shot dead a black teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio (northern US) as she appeared to be stabbing another person, less than an hour before the ex- policeman Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.
Protests have erupted in the city after the incident, which comes amid growing outrage over police brutality and racism in the United States.
According to city police chief Michael Woods, officers responded to an emergency call on Tuesday afternoon, around 4:30 p.m. local (8:30 p.m. GMT), from a person who feared being attacked. with knives.
The police also released part of the video of the pedestrian camera carried by the police officer who shot the teenager. The latter was identified as 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant by the Franklin County Children’s Services in Columbus.
“We thought it was important to share with the community, to be transparent about this incident, to let them have some answers that we can provide tonight,” said Michael Woods.
Video footage shows police arriving at the scene of a fight, along with a small crowd of spectators. A teenage girl attacks another with what appears to be a knife, gunshots are heard and the girl collapses to the ground.
The policeman then throws a knife away from the teenager.
Mayor Andrew Ginther called the girl’s death “a horrible and heartbreaking situation”, referring to “a tragic day for the city of Columbus” and asking residents to pray for the teenager’s family.
According to the mayor, the policeman whose name has not been made public “acted to protect another young girl from our community”.
The mother of the slain teenager, Paula Bryant, told the local CBS branch that her daughter was “very loving, peaceful” and “standing up for the peace.”