Police defend deputy who fatally shot teen in Ohio court
- Published
The shot was fired around 12:30 local time inside the Columbus courthouse
An Ohio police union has defended an officer who shot dead a teenager during a fight with the boy and his family at a courtroom hearing.
Keith Ferrell of the Columbus Fraternal Order of Police said the officer, who has not been named, was "in a fight for his life" in the juvenile court row.
The Franklin County Sheriff's office said one shot was fired, striking Joseph Haynes, 16, in the abdomen.
The teenager, who was facing a gun charge, died about 30 minutes later.
The deputy was called into the courtroom after "de-escalation tactics" had failed and was "violently attacked by multiple people" on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Ferrell said.
"He is there to protect every person in the courthouse including himself", Mr Ferrell continued, adding that "countless" people could have lost their lives if the suspect had taken the officer's weapons.
Chief Minerd confirmed family members were involved in the fight
Franklin County Chief Deputy Rick Minerd also said the deputy had been "knocked to the ground as part of that altercation, where he came under attack from some of the folks that were involved - family members".
A lawyer who represented the teenager in court that the fight broke out after the judge's sentence was read.
"Joseph was a little out of sorts because of how things went at the hearing," Jennifer Brisco said.
"The officer threatened to lock him up and a scuffle broke out. Joseph was resisting and that's when there was a scuffle," she added.
But Hayne's grandmother, Geraldine Haynes, told the newspaper that her grandson was not resisting when he was shot and questioned why the officer did not deploy a stun-gun.
She added that the attack began after a confrontation between Hayne's mother and the deputy.
Mr Ferrell confirmed on Thursday that the officer was equipped with a Taser.
According to Haynes was charged with aggravated menacing after he pointed a handgun at two people and threatened to shoot them.
He was already on probation and sentenced to wear an ankle monitor after he was caught carrying a concealed weapon, which belonged to his mother.
In 2016 he was charged with domestic violence for choking his mother, but those charges were later dropped at her request.