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Did Ma'khia Bryant call 911 before fatal shooting? She’s not ‘aggressor, it changes everything’ if so: Expert

Former prosecutor Nancy Grace said that identifying the 911 caller could be the first step in understanding what really transpired before the shooting took place. The caller was not identified by Columbus Police Department
PUBLISHED APR 23, 2021
Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl, was shot by an officer in Columbus, Ohio, and died as a result of the injuries she sustained (GoFundMe)
Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl, was shot by an officer in Columbus, Ohio, and died as a result of the injuries she sustained (GoFundMe)

COLUMBUS, OHIO: On Tuesday, April 20, a 16-year-old girl had been shot by an officer in Columbus and she died as a result of the injuries that she sustained from the same. It was reported that Ma'khia Bryant had been stopped because she had lunged at one of the other girls that she had been fighting with, with a knife in her hand. 

Considering the buzz that surrounds the case, the interim police chief of Columbus, Ohio, Michael Woods, had revealed more information about the case. He had explained that two calls were placed to 911 seeking help. The first one, he said came at 4.32 pm and in this call, a woman had asked the officers to respond to the scene as people were trying to fight and even stab her and others. The recording was also played at the press briefings. It was also revealed that there was a second call. 

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The second 911 caller also asked for police's help but it seemed as if this person had hung up after realizing that the police had arrived on the scene. According to reports, Woods has refused to comment on the identity of the 911 callers at the moment. The officers had arrived on the scene at 4.44 pm. At the press conference, Woods also released bodycam footage of the incident to the press. 

Ma'khia Bryant (Paula Bryant via Facebook) and students reacting to her protest (Getty Images)

The video shows how Bryant lunged at a woman with something in her hand, just after an officer arrived, who attempted to stop the altercation by shooting Bryant. The cop was identified as Nicholas Reardon and he shot several times while the women struggled on the side of a parked car. After the shooting, a knife was spotted next to Bryant's body. 

Did Ma'khia Bryant call 911 before the shooting?

The unidentified caller had said in the call that was indistinguishable that someone was "trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put their hands on our grandma. Get here now." Bryant's mother Paula told 10TV that her daughter called 911 because there someone was trying to threaten her. According to a report in Fox, the caller was not identified by Columbus Police Department and it was deferred to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The respective department was quoted as saying that they cannot share the information at the moment. 

What will be different if it was Bryant who called 911?

Former prosecutor Nancy Grace said that identifying the 911 caller could be the first step in understanding what really transpired before the shooting took place. She explained, "If the girl Ma'Khia Bryant is the one that made that 911 call, that changes everything because that tells me that at some point she was afraid of a knife attack if in fact, that was her making the call ... where she's begging an officer to come to the scene because someone has a knife and is attacking her and others." 

Nicholas Reardon and Ma'Khia Bryant (Twitter/mad, Twitter/KID VICIOUS)

Grace further emphasized, "That really changes everything because that takes her away from being the original aggressor." In an appearance on Fox's 'Crime Stories' along with Grace, Ashley Willcott, a judge and trial attorney also appeared. Wilcott said, "Absolutely that changes everything because she's not the original aggressor," and added "She, therefore, was initially the victim and there's a very good argument then [that she was] defending herself."

Legally, however, Grace underscored that Bryant would still be considered an aggressor as she had held the knife in her hand while the woman she had attacked seemed to be unarmed. 

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