COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant last year has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, Ohio prosecutors announced Friday.
Highlights
- Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, was shot and killed by police as she swung a knife at two other people in April.
- She was killed in April by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon.
- Reardon told investigators he didn’t think using mace or a “hands-on” approach would have worked because of the knife in Bryant’s hand, because he thought he was the only officer on scene and because Bryant appeared much bigger than him.
- The city will now conduct an internal review to determine whether Reardon’s actions followed department policy, the Columbus Public Safety Department tweeted.
- The killing further heightened tensions in Ohio’s capital city over fatal police shootings of Black people.