‘A Horrendous Tragedy’: The Chaotic Moments Before a Police Shooting in Columbus

New video and 911 calls shed light on what led up to the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, who the police said was wielding a knife before an officer fired the four shots that killed her.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Law enforcement authorities on Wednesday released 911 calls and new body-camera videos showing the chaotic moments surrounding the killing of a Black 16-year-old girl who was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer responding to a call about a disturbance. Michael Woods, the interim chief of the Columbus Division of Police, identified the officer who shot the girl, Ma’Khia Bryant, as Nicholas Reardon, and said he had been on the force since December 2019. Officer Reardon, who is white, has been placed on administrative leave as the shooting is investigated. Ms. Bryant was killed less than an hour before a jury in Minneapolis handed down its guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, and her death outside her foster home on a suburban block in southeastern Columbus quickly set off new waves of anger and protests over police killings.