Family: 16-year-old girl shot, killed by Columbus police called 911 for help

Police were called just after 4:30 p.m. to a residential street on the southeast side of the city, according to the Columbus Division of Police.

The shooting happened around 4:45 p.m., as the nation was awaiting the guilty verdict reached by the jury in the murder trial of former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man.

The teen — later identified as Ma’Khia Bryant by Franklin County Children Services — was taken in critical condition to Mount Carmel East, where she died at the hospital.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was called to investigate the deadly shooting.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther tweeted Tuesday evening that “a young woman tragically lost her life” and asked that residents remain calm as investigators gather the facts. He said there is police body camera footage of the deadly shooting.

A 911 caller reported that a female was trying to stab the caller, and then the caller hung up, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

The Columbus Branch of the NAACP released a statement on their Twitter page: Another Black child was killed by the police. Our condolences to the family and loved ones of Ma’khia Bryant.”

The family said it was the 16-year-old shot and killed who made the 911 call because girls were fighting outside her foster house. An aunt told the Dispatch that the teen had a knife for self-defense but insists she dropped it before she was shot. Police have not confirmed those reports.

Demonstrators with Black Lives Matter signs joined a crowd gathered Tuesday night behind crime scene tape near the shooting scene, with about 50 people arriving by 8:30 p.m., the newspaper reported.

A crowd of demonstrators Tuesday night also gathered outside of the Columbus Division of Police downtown headquarters and then were marching through the streets. They were chanting “say her name, Ma’Khia Bryant.”