Bodycam footage shows fatal police shooting at Ohio emergency room

Ohio police on Wednesday released body camera footage appearing to show officers engaged in a physical struggle with a man in a hospital emergency room that ultimately resulted in officers fatally shooting him.

The footage obtained and posted by The Associated Press showed the moments Columbus and Westerville police officers attempted to search Miles Jackson, a Black man, in a room at Mount Carmel St. Ann’s Hospital in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus.

According to the AP, Jackson was taken to the hospital earlier that day and was later brought back to the emergency room by officers who had found him passed out in a bank parking lot. 

In videos from the Westerville Division of Police and obtained by NBC News, officers appeared to pat Jackson down briefly before helping him into an ambulance. 

Columbus police were eventually called to the hospital after the Westerville officers learned that Jackson had outstanding arrest warrants in the city, including domestic violence and possessing weapons under disability, according to local NBC affiliate WCMH. 

The footage shared by the AP showed an officer briefly handcuffing Jackson’s left hand to the hospital bed before the officer removed the handcuffs and started to collect Jackson’s belongings. 

“You don’t have nothing sharp in your pockets, do you?” the officer asked. “Hopefully somebody would have caught that earlier.”

Moments later, a bullet dropped from Jackson’s pants, prompting officers to search him. 

After one of the officers then appeared to feel a gun in Jackson’s pants, two officers began to struggle with Jackson before one of them used a stun gun on him. 

Police officers located outside the room can be heard in the footage shouting instructions at Jackson as he was lying on the floor, with one police officer in the room having his gun drawn on Jackson. 

“I’m just scared, guys,” Jackson said at one point. Later, he said, “So, if I move y’all not going to shoot me. They’re not going to shoot me?” 

An officer then told Jackson to lift his right hand, to which Jackson said he was putting his gun down. 

“Do not touch the gun. Let go of the gun and put both of your hands up over your head,” an officer replied. 

Police then used a stun gun for a second time before a shot was heard, apparently coming from Jackson’s gun, according to the AP. This prompted police to fire several shots. 

The AP reported that Jackson was hit by gunfire and that emergency room staff attempted to revive him before he was ultimately pronounced dead. 

Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler said that two officers, Eric Everhart and David Lammer, both white, will be on administrative leave while the department conducts an internal investigation into the incident. 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) confirmed in a statement Wednesday that “preliminary ballistic testing” indicated that Jackson had a gun from which shots were fired. 

Yost added that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is leading the investigation into the fatal shooting. 

“BCI continues to interview witnesses and complete further forensic analysis to determine all of the facts. Partial facts only provide partial truth,” the statement said.