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Who is Nicholas Reardon? Columbus cop who fatally shot Ma'Khia Bryant, 16, was on force for less than 2 years

'Officer Nicholas Reardon needs to be FIRED immediately,' a Twitter user demanded, while Reardon has been placed on leave by Columbus PD

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Columbus Police Department has released the name of the police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, while responding to an attempted stabbing report. The cop has been identified as Nicholas Reardon, who has been on the force for less than two years, according to The Daily Beast.

Just before the much-anticipated verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin surfaced, the nation was shocked by the fatal shooting of Black teenager Ma'Khia Bryant in Ohio. In the initially released bodycam video footage, officer Reardon was seen firing four shots at Ma'Khia as she attempted to attack another young girl with a knife. While the incident is undergoing investigation, Reardon has been placed on leave, as confirmed by The Independent.

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Who is Nicholas Reardon?

Nicholas Reardon has been a police officer with Columbus Police Department since December 2019. He was working a one-officer car and was assigned to zone 2, second shift. In the original bodycam video, Reardon can be heard saying, "She had a knife. She just ran at her,” as a man in the background exclaims, "She's a f***ing kid, man." The officer was filmed at the scene in a Facebook live stream video taken after the shooting. Watch the Facebook video here (trigger warning). 

Reardon's name was announced in relation to the shooting by Columbus PD's interim police chief Michael Woods, who defended the action of the officer. Woods emphasized how the officer was trained to shoot center mass instead of legs or arms. "There was a threat going on, a deadly force threat that was going on, so the officer was trained to shoot center mass – the largest part of a body that is available to them," he stated. 

Woods further added, “When you try and start shooting legs or arms, rounds miss and they continue on and there are people behind that who could be in danger that are not committing anything, so we try to minimize danger to anyone else if we have to use our firearm.” Woods also mentioned that officer Reardon may not have had "cover, distance and time" to use a taser, instead of gunning down the teenage victim. 

Three additional bodycam footages were shown at the press conference along with two 911 calls for aiding the ongoing criminal investigation.

'Nicholas Reardon needs to be FIRED immediately'

As soon as Reardon's name was released as the cop who allegedly killed Bryant, Twitter users reacted with outrage. "Officer Nicholas Reardon needs to be FIRED immediately for killing 16 y/o Ma'Khia Bryant in one of the worst attempts at policing I've ever seen!" tweeted one user. Another user wrote, "the name of the officer who shot and ki!!ed ma'khia bryant is named nicholas reardon. columbus police just confirmed this. spread the word and do not let him get away with murdering a child."

"Nicholas Reardon murdered a black teenage girl and on his paid vacation while his department "determines if his actions were justified". If you or I murdered someone we'd go directly to prison and not pass Go and not collect $200. F**k qualified immunity, NOBODY should have it!" one user expressed their strong displeasure. A certain user even dubbed Reardon a 'murderer', as they tweeted, "this is Nicholas Reardon, the officer who fired four fatal shots into the chest of 16yo Ma'khia Bryant. no questions, no deescalating tactics, just fired his gun shortly after getting out of his car. spread this and make sure everyone who sees his face knows he's a murderer."