Who Is Donovan Lewis? Bodycam Video of Black Man's Shooting Sparks Outrage
Khaleda Rahman Newsweek
This frame from Columbus Police body camera footage shows police involved in fatal shooting of 20-year-old Donovan Lewis talking outside the three-story building where the incident occurred in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, August 30, 2022. (photo: Doral Chenoweth/The Columbus Dispatch/Columbus Police)
Donovan Lewis, 20, was shot while officers were attempting to serve a felony warrant at an apartment in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue in Columbus at around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Columbus Division of Police said.
The officer who shot Lewis was identified by Columbus Police as Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the department assigned to the canine unit.
At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said officers had knocked on the door of a second-floor apartment for up to 10 minutes before anyone answered.
Two men who were inside the apartment were taken into custody and officers called a K9 unit to help with a search of the apartment.
The body camera footage shows officers searching the apartment for Lewis, who was wanted on a felony warrant for domestic violence and assault and improperly handling a firearm.
The video shows the dog moving around the kitchen and barking at a bedroom door.
"We're gonna send that dog in," an officer says moments before Anderson moved to hold the door back and opened the bedroom door.
In less than a second, Anderson is seen firing a shot, striking Lewis as he sat up on a bed.
"Hands," one officer is heard repeatedly yelling. He also orders Lewis to "crawl out" multiple times, but he remains on the bed face down.
"Cover me, I'm gonna go in," one officer said a short time later.
"I need cuffs, I'm out of cuffs," an officer in the room can be heard saying on the video. "Hands behind your back, do it now."
An officer is seen lifting Lewis' right arm and attempting to it shift it behind his back while Lewis is heard moaning. "Stop resisting," the officer tells Lewis, who remains face down on the bed.
Officers are later seen carrying Lewis out of the bedroom while his hands are still cuffed behind his back.
Police said officers rendered aid until medics arrived on the scene and transported Lewis to Grant Medical Center in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3:19 a.m., police said.
Bryant said Anderson fired when Lewis appeared to raise a hand with something in it.
