Biden briefed on ‘tragic’ police killing of Ma’Khia Bryant, White House says

Joe Biden was briefed on Wednesday on the “tragic” fatal police shooting of a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced.

Related: Ohio county where girl, 16, was killed is state’s deadliest for police shootings

A police officer shot teenager Ma’Khia Bryant on Tuesday afternoon, mere minutes before the jury announced its guilty verdict in Minneapolis over the police murder of George Floyd, one of the highest-profile such criminal cases in history.

Psaki acknowledged the shadow Ma’Khia’s death cast, “just as America was hopeful of a step forward”.

“She was a child. We’re thinking of her friends and family, in the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss,” Psaki said.

Protesters marched on Tuesday evening to decry the killing.

In a departure from protocol, Columbus police officials released body camera footage of the incident on Tuesday night, soon after it happened.

The clip shows the scene on the street where police had been dispatched, after someone called 911 claiming they were being attacked.

Ma’Khia, who seemingly was holding a knife, clashes with two people before the officer shoots at her four times and she falls to the ground next to a parked vehicle.

City authorities initially said the police officer intervened to save the life of another girl that Bryant appeared to close in on swiftly while brandishing a kitchen knife.

On Wednesday, mayor Andrew Ginther decried the death of a teenager, but said: “We know, based on this footage, the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community.”

State authorities are now investigating. City public safety director Ned Pettus denounced the death at the hands of a police officer.

He said: “She could be my grandchild. Any way you look at this, it’s a tragedy. I understand the outrage and emotion around this incident.”

He said the video footage showed “there is more to this”.

Hana Abdur-Rahim, of the Black Abolitionists Collective, described the continued killing of Black American by police as genocide.

She said: “We are fighting for our lives.”

The shooting occurred in front of several bystanders, during daylight.

“She’s a fucking kid, man!” a one witness cried out at police.

Ma’Khia was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The officer who killed her has not been identified. Officials said the officer has been taken off patrol duty.

“I’m very upset, I’m hurt. I want answers,” said Paula Bryant, Ma’Khia’s mother.

Ma’Khia was shot less than five miles from where the funeral for Andre Hill, killed by another Columbus police officer in December, was held earlier this year.

The officer in Hill’s case, Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, is now facing trial for murder, with the next hearing scheduled for 28 April.

The county where Bryant was shot dead has one of highest rates of fatal police shootings in the US, according to a recent study.

The Ohio Alliance for innovation in population health released a study in February this year that found 38 people were shot and killed by police in Franklin county, home to about 1.3 million people, between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2020.

An average of 4.81 per million people were killed in the county, according to the Alliance – the 18th highest rate of fatal police shootings among America’s 100 most populous counties.

As protesters gathered near where Bryant was killed on Tuesday, Rayshawn Whiting, who was among them, said he had had plans to visit his brother’s house and watch the Chauvin verdict, before gunshots rang out.

“I’ve got daughters,” Whiting said. “And I’m tired of it. I feel like a polar bear with the ice caps melting. We have nowhere to run. If we protect ourselves, we go to jail. If we don’t, we die.”

Interim police chief Michael Woods said state law allows police to use deadly force to protect themselves or others, and investigators will determine whether this shooting was such an instance.