Officer fatally shoots a guy in Ohio, authorities release the bodycam footage

• Officer Ricky Anderson has been placed on leave pending an investigation.
• Chief says device appearing to be a “vape pen” was found next to Lewis’ bed.
• Body camera footage shows the moments leading up to officer’s fatal shooting.

After an officer in Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed a 20-year-old man while attempting to execute an arrest warrant earlier that day, police there released body camera footage on Tuesday.

The man, Donovan Lewis, was discovered by police Tuesday morning in an apartment, and an officer can be seen shooting at him in the footage, which was made public during a news conference. Just before being shot, Lewis can be seen appearing to sit up in bed and extend a hand.

Lewis seemed to raise a hand with something in it, Chief Elaine Bryant stated during the press conference, according to WCMH of Columbus. Officer Ricky Anderson then discharged his gun. A device that resembled a “vape pen,” according to Bryant, was later “discovered on the bed right next to him.”

According to the TV station, Anderson, a 30-year police veteran assigned to the canine squad, was placed on leave pending an inquiry into the fatal shooting.

“Donovan Lewis passed away. As a parent, I understand his mother’s pain and I weep with her “Bryant remarked. I grieve with our community as a whole, but we will permit this investigation to go, she said.

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Just before 2:30 a.m., officers were attempting to serve a felony warrant at an apartment, according to a news release from the Columbus Division of Police.

The moments before the event, following the cops’ arrival at the residence, are shown on the body camera tape. The front door of the apartment is seen being knocked on by police in the video before a man replies and is taken into jail. According to WCMH, a second male who was seen inside the apartment’s entrance was also taken into custody.

Later, officers can be seen entering the flat with a police dog, which seems to start barking at a bedroom door in the back. As the officers approach the door, Anderson pulls it open while holding the dog’s collar in one hand and firing his gun seconds later. According to the police, officers helped Lewis until Columbus Fire medics came and took him to the hospital.

Within an hour of the incident taking place, Lewis was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3:19 in the morning, according to the police.

According to police, an inquiry into the police shooting has been launched by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

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