An Ohio police officer who shot and killed a 16-year-old lady as she swung a knife at one other teenage lady and moments after pushing a girl to the bottom final 12 months was cleared of legal wrongdoing Friday. 

Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon fatally shot Ma’Khia Bryant final April as officers had been responding to a 911 name from her foster residence a couple of group of ladies threatening to stab members of the family. She was struck 4 instances and died. 

Bryant’s household expressed disappointment that prosecutors decline to pursue expenses in opposition to Reardon,

“There ought to have been different non-deadly choices out there to cope with this example,” they stated in an announcement. 

The killing led to a Justice Division evaluate of the Columbus Police Division practices and heightened tensions within the capital metropolis over the deadly shootings of Black individuals. Bryant was Black and Reardon is White. 

The DOJ evaluate into the division’s potential racial disparities got here after an invite by Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, who additionally requested suggestions on reform measures.  

The coroner listed Bryant’s reason for loss of life as a murder — a medical dedication utilized in instances the place somebody has died at another person’s hand, however not a authorized discovering. It doesn’t indicate legal intent.

“On the time I fired my weapon, I used to be in worry for the lifetime of the feminine in pink,” Reardon stated, referring to Shai-onta Craig, the lady who was attacked by Bryant. She has beforehand lived on the foster residence.

She returned that day and argued with Bryant, Craig stated. 

Reardon informed investigators he didn’t assume utilizing mace or a “hands-on” method would have labored due to the knife in Bryant’s hand, as a result of he thought he was the one officer on scene and since Bryant appeared a lot larger than him.

The lethal capturing additionally prompted criticism of Ohio’s foster care system. 

“Ohio’s foster care system is failing our kids and we can’t stand by and permit this to proceed,” the Bryant household stated. “Because the one-year anniversary of Ma’Khia’s loss of life approaches, her household is resolute of their struggle for justice on her behalf.”

Foster dad or mum Angela Moore informed investigators that neither Bryant nor her sister, who was additionally within the residence, had ever displayed violence, however all the women within the residence periodically argued.

Columbus — the nation’s 14th largest metropolis — has recorded a number of contested police shootings, together with the 2021 killing of 27-year-old Miles Jackson in an emergency room; and the 2020 capturing loss of life of 47-year-old Andre Hill. The white police officer who fatally shot Hill has pleaded not responsible to numerous expenses introduced in opposition to him by the state lawyer common’s workplace.

The Related Press contributed to this report.