Family Disputes Official Story in Police Killing of Casey Goodson Jr. in Columbus, Ohio

Police shot and killed a 23-year-old man in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend, claiming they shot him after he drove by them in a car while waving a weapon. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2021 The Root 100 – 2022 The Root 100 – 2023 Video will return here when scrolled back into view…

Police shot and killed a 23-year-old man in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend, claiming they shot him after he drove by them in a car while waving a weapon.

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According to a report from The Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Sheriffโ€™s office in Ohio said its SWAT team had been unsuccessfully searching for a fugitive on Friday when a young manโ€”identified by his family online as Casey Goodson Jr.โ€”passed by them in a car while waving a handgun.

At a press conference about the incident, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio Peter Tobin said the deceased was not the target of the search but was confronted by a member of the SWAT task force who shot him after he did not follow a command to drop his weapon.

But Goodsonโ€™s family members dispute that version of events. His sister, Kaylee Harper, said that her brother had been in the process of entering his home while holding a sandwich when he was shot by police.

โ€œThey are lying,โ€ Harper posted on social media in response to the Franklin Country Sherrifโ€™s office report of the so-called officer-involved shooting. โ€œMy brother literally walked across the yard, walked into the back fence to get to the side door, had his subway and mask in one hand, keys in the other.โ€

โ€œWhy did you kill a man walking into his own home? He just wanted to enjoy his Subway after leaving the dentistโ€™s office,โ€ she added.

https://twitter.com/__kaybaeee/status/1335247025877749762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

โ€œPolice shot him in the back three times through the door,โ€ Goodsonโ€™s mother Tamala Cain said, according to a report from BET. Cain added that her son was licensed to carry a concealed weapon and had no history of trouble with the law.

Police have released little additional details about the incident, outside of saying that a 17-year-veteran of the Franklin County Sheriffโ€™s Office shot the 23-year-old and that they believe the shooting was justified. Officials have yet to publicly name Goodson as the victim, but say a police-led investigation will be carried out into the incident and that it will be presented to prosecutors and a grand jury in Franklin County for consideration.

Goodsonโ€™s family has launched a GoFundMe to help with the cost of his burial.

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