Who was Ma'Khia Bryant trying to stab? Neighbor says teen was in 'full attack mode' and 'needed to be stopped'
The body camera footage from other officers on the day of the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant show a chaotic scene and ignited outrage by many over the continued use of lethal force by the police in Columbus and the US.
Now, Bryant's military veteran neighbor has stated that his home security camera footage proves Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon had no choice but to gun down the 16-year-old because more people could have been killed if he hadn't acted. Donovan Brinson stated in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, April 22 morning that he believes Bryant could have fatally killed the young woman she was seen lunging at with a knife if the police officer hadn't opened fire in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, April 20 afternoon.
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"He could have either not fired and the young lady in pink could have been stabbed in the neck and brutally or fatally injured and then he could shot [Bryant] and we could have had two [young women] dead - or he could have responded in the way that he did and one young lady lost her life," he said. Brinson told host Harris Faulkner on "The Faulkner Focus" during an exclusive television interview on April 22 that "the video doesn’t lie." He said that the officer "did what he thought was best" given that he only had seconds to react.
Brinson told The Columbus Dispatch that he was pulling into his driveway as the incident started.
"They were calling each other the B-word, so I figured it was just a girl fight," Brinson said. But when he took his dog, Max, out back, things hadn't quieted down. In fact, he said, the yelling had escalated. While he was inside, he heard gunshots after police responded. His statements come as a second neighbor said that he believes police bodycam footage shows Bryant was in "full attack mode" and "needed to be stopped" because a "young lady's life was at stake."
Police arrived at a foster home in Columbus on April 20 at 4.44 pm responding to a caller who reported that a woman was attempting to stab them and "put their hands on" them roughly 15 minutes earlier. The original 911 caller did not mention what weapons were at the scene. A body camera footage released shows that immediately after the officer left his car, Ma’Khia started chasing and then pushing one teenager to the ground and attempting to attack her. The officer yells, “Hey! Get down! Get down!” Seconds later, Bryant lunges at another young woman, who is pressed up against a car. Reardon, then shot Bryant four times on the 3100 block of Legion Lane.
After the shots, Bryant collapsed against the parked car and onto the ground and the knife is seen lying on the pavement next to her as an officer crouches at her side to render medical aid. She was pronounced dead in the hospital. Her shooting triggered immediate protests in Columbus, which happened during the announcement of the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin, the White police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last year.