Officer who saved young woman from Ma’Khia Bryant’s knife attack cleared of wrongdoing

In a call reached by a grand jury on Friday afternoon, all prices have been dropped towards the Columbus police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old knife-wielding Ma’Khia Bryant who was about to stab a woman in April of final 12 months.

ABC 6 reported that the grand jury declined to carry prices towards Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon, the cop concerned in Bryant’s taking pictures loss of life.

When reviews started to flow into {that a} police officer had shot and killed a black teenager, headlines shortly put officer Reardon within the crosshairs. Coming off the heels of the Derek Chauvin trial, the taking pictures shortly obtained nationwide consideration, even reaching the Biden administration’s discover. White House press secretary Jen Paksi referred to as the taking pictures “tragic,” and advised retailers that the administration would make efforts to stop comparable shootings from taking place sooner or later.

“Our focus is on working to address systemic racism and implicit bias head-on and, of course, to passing laws and legislation that will put much-needed reforms into place at police departments around the country,” Paksi stated on the time.

But as time handed, the occasions of April 20, 2021, turned extra evident. Instead of a case of “implicit bias,” Reardon’s actions have been quickly found to be preventative in nature. Footage from Reardon’s physique cam advised a completely completely different story.

That day, Columbus Police have been dispatched after a 911 name. Reardon arrived on the scene to search out Bryant brandishing a knife at two different ladies. Reardon, recognizing a lethal risk, fired his weapon and shot Bryant 4 occasions, killing her. Eyewitnesses on the scene later reported that Reardon had solely “seconds” to behave.

“At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for the life of the female in pink,” Reardon later stated, speaking about Bryant’s would-be stabbing sufferer.

After analyzing the total set of circumstances, the grand jury determined that it couldn’t discover possible trigger that officer Reardon had dedicated a criminal offense. Reardon, they determined, could be cleared of any prison wrongdoing.

“Under Ohio law the use of deadly force by a police officer is justified when there exists an immediate or imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another,” particular prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer explained in asserting the grand jury’s choice, mentioning a full evaluation of the taking pictures.

Bryant household lawyer Michelle Martin stated in an announcement to ABC 6:

“Ma’Khia Bryant’s family is disappointed that a Franklin County grand jury declined to indict the officer who shot and killed her last year. Ma’Khia’s family has long wondered why this officer opted for lethal force even though there should have been other non-deadly options available to deal with this situation.”

“We believe that the tragedy that ultimately resulted in Ma’Khia’s death started long before she was shot and killed by a Columbus police officer,” the household lawyer’s press assertion continues, including: “There must be full-scale changes made to Ohio’s foster care system to ensure that this doesn’t happen to another child. We need to work tirelessly to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society. Ohio’s foster care system is failing our children and we cannot stand by and allow this to continue. As the one-year anniversary of Ma’Khia’s death approaches, her family is resolute in their fight for justice on her behalf.”

Jeff Simpson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), advised ABC 6 that, whereas Bryant’s loss of life was a tragedy, Reardon’s actions had been a success of his duties as an officer. “It’s always sad when there is a loss of life, however, the actions of the people at the scene, caused him to take action that saved lives and he is trained very well,” the FOP president stated in an announcement on the matter.

While prices towards Reardon have been cleared, a further inside investigation might be launched by town to find out whether or not he adopted process per coverage laid out by the Columbus Public Safety Department.

“We thank the independent investigators of Ohio BCI for their diligence on this case. The next step in this process is an administrative investigation to determine whether the officer’s actions were within division policy. Because of that pending investigation, at this time we are not able to comment further,” CPSD stated.