Dramatic body camera video shows Columbus officers shoot armed man

A police station in Ohio released body camera video Thursday showing the fatal shooting of a man a few days earlier.

Columbus Police say two officers opened fire on Kareem Ali Nadir Jones on July 7 after he tried to pull a gun on them, according to WCMH-TV.

In the video, which doesn’t have any audio for the first minute, Jones can be seen backing away from Officers Samuel James and Marc Johnson as they get out of their squad car. He puts his hands in the air, but doesn’t “get down” when the officers tell him to. He backs up towards a house, near a woman who’s standing nearby — watching all of it unfold.

As Jones gets near the front of a parked car, he turns to run while reaching for a gun tucked into his pants. That’s when the two officers opened fire.

“Cover him, cover him,” says one officer, as the audio kicks on in the video after the shooting.

“Dude, why did you do that? Why?” yells another officer, as he goes to turn over Jones, who was slumped over on his side against a chain link fence.

The officers turned him over and cuffed him while he bled all over the grass. A 9mm Glock was recovered at the scene. It had previously been reported stolen in Vandalia, Ohio. Jones was taken to the hospital, where he died on Monday.

“The body worn camera video released today is a graphic reminder of the dangers police officers face every day, and illustrates the split-second decisions officers must make to keep Columbus neighborhoods safe,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, adding, “any loss of life is tragic.”

Jason Pappas, the president of the local police union, said the officers “did it by the book.”

“It’s clear as day on this video that this suspect reaches back and is retrieving that firearm from his waistband at the time that he is shot,” he said.

But an attorney for Jones’ family questioned why the officers approached Jones with their guns drawn.

“The question is, why?” asked attorney Rex Elliott. “Why pull your guns at that stage? Why not try to calm the situation down? It just didn’t need to go here. This guy was not outside committing any type of criminal activity.”

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